Forever Kiss
by XredbaronessX
Summary: Lucia and Sumire attend a school for extraordinary beings, forced to be together through circumstance, but both soon discover that each has something the other needs. Venus Versus Virus - Shoujo-Ai / Yuri featuring Lucia & Sumire VVV A
1. Preview

**Preview – Forever Kiss - Shoujo-ai / Yuri / Girl Love**

This a yuri story, that means GirlxGirl. If you don't like that sort of thing, don't read it and don't comment. I'm not really interested in bigotry, prejudice, and/or hate. It would be easier if you just closed this page and found something else to read rather than causing problems. I appreciate your maturity.

This story is dedicated to **Melah94**, who inspired me to write it and has been a wonderful and devoted reader.

Welcome to my new Venus Versus Virus project! It's an alternate reality story, (I hope that's the right term) This is going to be a fun piece, lots of romance, drama, flirtation, jealousy, and excitement. It should be very enjoyable and hopefully entertaining!

I had intended to post the entire first chapter on Halloween, but I was very busy with auditions and school work...and partying. I apologize. This story will begin regular updates soon!

This is a clip from later in the story, Please review! :)

* * *

_Pale, cold, motionless; the body lay in the middle of the empty courtyard. The moonlight streamed through the trees and onto the path where she emerged, breathless. A cool fall breeze gusted through her hair, whipping it about her panicked face as she ran towards the body. She collapsed to her knees and stared in horror at the girl who lay on the ground before her. She quickly picked her up and cradled her, taking in what she saw. The girl's once rosy cheeks and lush lips had gone colorless, gray like stone; her skin was like ice, as if winter embodied had kissed her skin and turned it to frost. Cautiously, like she was handling a porcelain toy, she shifted the body in her arms and began searching desperately for any sign of life. She listened for breath but was only greeted by silence, she felt for a pulse but the blood no longer flowed through the veins. She pressed her ear to the other girl's breast where she heard a quiet heartbeat; so faint, she wondered if it was her mind playing tricks on her in her frantic anticipation to discover that her partner was still alive. Nevertheless, it was there, that slow, almost silent beating. Buh-dum, Buh-dum…Buh-dum… buh- But the sound, so miraculous and relieving at first, was already fading as well, faltering until it would stop entirely. _

"_Please," begged the girl as she held the body, "… No… don't leave me! Please wake up!" But she knew that her pleas were falling on deafened ears. "I need you..." Tears streamed down her cheeks and before long she'd begun sobbing despairingly. She pulled the body close and hugged it into her own chest as she continued to plead with the gods, any god at all, to spare her friend. It was futile, this girl had no chance now; her heart had already stopped beating._

_

* * *

_

Alright! So now that you've read this you'll have to come back and keep reading to find out who the dying girl is and what has happened! Is there any hope for them!? oh the suspense! lol. I promise that this story will be worth the return so make sure you get alerted to my updates! :)

Edit (11/7/09) - I think I finally finished editing the first chapter and have got it where I want it, soooooooo... it should be posted soon! :D Get Pumped!


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome To Venus Academy

And so it begins!

A few notes before you start reading though:

This is a Yuri fanfic, that means girl love. If you don't like that then this fic isn't for you.

This is an AR fic, so it's not your basic VVV story, the location is different and the characters don't follow the conventions of the manga. You'll find that both Lucia and Sumire are different then the girls we've grown to love. Hopefully, you'll love them just the same as the story progresses.

Later there will be a couple characters introduced that you will not recognize from VVV, as they appear I will put their names at the bottom of the chapter, otherwise, all named characters belong to Venus Versus Virus.

There are references to Japanese Demons in this story;

Akaname - A demon with a long tongue that licks the bathroom

Kiyohime - A women/girl turned into a serpent demon

Futakuchi-onna - A women with an extra mouth on the back of her skull

Harionago - A demon that controls long barbed hair

More will appear later in the story, which I will reference at the end of chapters as not to give anything away, so if there is ever a name you don't recognize, you can probably find it at the bottom of the page.

Read, Enjoy, Review!

* * *

Lucia was sitting erectly in the chair, writing the notes that the teacher scribbled on the board, which were barely legible as always; somehow Lucia could figure out what he meant. He returned to the podium and began to lecture in a tedious, monotone voice. The blue haired girl sighed and twirled her pencil between her fingers. She always used pencil, she had a problem with pens, ink was too permanent for her liking. She put it down on her notebook as she sat back and looked at the red haired girl who was seated beside her. The girl was slumped over, her head resting on her arms, her eyes shut, her mouth agape as she snored softly. It was hardly attractive, but Lucia laughed lightly. She picked up one of her books, held it open next to the girl's head, and slammed it shut right beside the sleeping girl's ear.

"What?!" the surprised red haired girl exclaimed as she shot up, nearly falling out of her seat in the process. Lucia laughed and acted as if she'd done nothing, while the rest of the class stared at the red haired girl with curious faces. Some giggled and whispered, others shook their heads. The teacher tapped his instructor's baton on the podium with a sour expression and everyone returned their attention to him. He raised a bushy eyebrow at the girl, who apologized and slouched into her seat with a bright red face.

"Sumire," murmured the blue-haired girl, "you've got a little drool, right there." She pointed to the side of Sumire's mouth. She quickly wiped it off and scowled at Lucia.

"Don't think I don't know that was you." She hissed, "You could've just nudged me or something."

"But that's no fun. Your reaction was priceless." Replied Lucia, "Besides, you're a slacker, you should always pay attention in Hexing class."

"You know I hate this class. It's my worst subject!" exclaimed Sumire; the teacher tapped his baton again, getting rather fed up with her outbursts. He flashed his fangs and gave a warning growl, another and Sumire would surely be punished. Sumire closed her mouth abruptly and looked at her blank notebook. She grimaced, as if sleeping through class wasn't bad enough, she didn't even have any notes to reference later.

"Exactly, that's why you need to pay attention." Lucia argued, opening her notebook and pulling out a sheet of paper. "Here, I've already copied the notes for you."

"Thanks." Sumire said with a sigh as she scanned over the page and realized she still didn't know what any of the notes meant, now she'd need Lucia to tutor her too. "But don't think this will get you off the hook for waking me up like you did."

"Totally worth it." Lucia laughed. Sumire wanted to stay mad, but she really couldn't; Lucia was her first and only acquaintance in the school. She'd started late in the semester and came in with barely any knowledge of Otherworld Education. Lucia, on the other hand, had grown up with it. After all, the Dean was her uncle, but her success was entirely a result of her own efforts. She was one of the smartest students in the school, top of the general education courses like literature and history, as well as the potions, hexing, and dark arts classes. Without trying, she even excelled at the sports and fine arts programs, which made her very popular among the other students, boys and girls alike. Because the academy was split by gender, the girl's attending the North Academy and the boy's at the rival South Institute, and also because the demon boys all seemed to be foolish pigs, she was bestowed the title of "Dark Prince" and became the object of many girls' fantasies. Fan clubs were formed, she was greeted every morning by adoring girls, and she probably got a confession every day, if not twice.

However, she always turned the hopeless romantics down. Usually, Lucia kept to herself and didn't talk to anyone else, this gave her a reputation for being cold, yet respectable and revered. Her choice of wardrobe didn't help much, outside of class she refused to wear the uniform and constantly dressed in long, dark gowns and combat boots. She also always wore an eye patch over her left eye, which became the source of many rumors. Thus, she'd remained alone, seemingly above everyone else, a glorious, mysterious, untouchable entity… until Sumire arrived. They hadn't been separated since the moment Lucia set sight on her in the Dean's office. It wasn't in Lucia's power, however, the girl was basically forced on her by her uncle. She was entrusted with Sumire's protection and guidance. Lucia pitied the girl, a human, in a school of supernatural creatures; many of which who were wicked and resentful toward anyone similar to a mortal. Unfortunately, they were all the more cruel and envious because of Lucia's seemingly immediate acceptance of Sumire above any of the other students, or fans. They weren't aware that the Dean ordered Lucia to stay with the human girl.

No one knew what she saw in Sumire; she lacked all paranormal skill, magical powers, or anything resembling supernatural ability. She had no claws, no horns, or tail; her teeth didn't inject venom, her eyes didn't turn men to stone, she couldn't control the elements. Why did she deserve to linger in the presence of the school's "Dark Prince"? Perhaps the strangest aspect of all was that Lucia still had not witnessed Sumire's power, if she had any at all, why had a human been accepted to a demon academy? Nonetheless, Lucia knew that her uncle must have seen something in the human girl, something extraordinary, that encouraged him to accept her so late in the term, and on scholarship too. Lucia feared Sumire would lose the free tuition if she kept sleeping during classes though, she watched the girl begin to nod off again.

"Hey, wake up…" Lucia advised in a hushed tone, poking the red haired girl with her pencil, "My uncle will be very displeased if I let you fail."

"I can't help it, I'm not nocturnal or whatever like you. And you and your uncle keep me up all night with patrols and tutoring, what do you expect?" Sumire murmured rather sullenly, looking up at Lucia with drowsy jade eyes. Since she'd arrived at the school, the Dean had taken a special interest in improving her meager abilities, which often resulted in midnight practices or running special moonlight errands for him; one of the conditions of the scholarship. These responsibilities really belonged to Lucia, but Sumire had been forced to tag along and wait for the other girl to finish each secretive task… _every single night_. She didn't really feel like she was learning anything of use from following Lucia around, and it certainly wasn't helping her in class. She reluctantly sat up, putting her hand under her chin and resting it there instead. She stared with a dazed expression at the front of the room, but heard and saw nothing. Lucia rolled her eye.

"I'm not nocturnal…" Lucia whispered, "But I suppose we'll just have to stay up tonight so I can tutor you again." Sumire quickly shook her head and gave her a pleading face.

"Please, please let me sleep tonight. I'll do anything you want!" begged the girl.

Lucia raised an eyebrow and grinned at Sumire, "Anything?" Sumire immediately regretted her words. Distant as she was, Lucia was appealing and polite to most people when she had to be, but she had developed somewhat of a mean streak when it came to Sumire. She loved to tease the younger girl and often ended up making her do things that would end in embarrassment.

"I mean… almost anything." Sumire quickly said.

"Right." Replied Lucia, shrugging, "I'm not sure, I think you'll just have to stay up and study all night."

"Fine! Anything!" Sumire exclaimed, the teacher had returned to the board and was scratching obscure references in chalk so he didn't hear her.

"That's better, we'll discuss this later." Lucia said, beginning to take notes again. Sumire cringed, knowing instantly that Lucia would use that time to come up with something entirely disturbing and cruel. She feared the worse, and had every reason to. She wondered if sleeping was worth it. Surely, Lucia was already thinking of what she considered to be hilarious things for Sumire to do. Sumire didn't regard Lucia as a friend. Yes, they were roommates and they spent nearly every waking moment together, and even in the unlikely event that Sumire could sleep Lucia still plagued her dreams with threats of extra school work and chores, but even with their constant contact they knew next to nothing about each other. Lucia was also fairly bossy, arrogant, and somewhat of a tormentor, at least when she was alone with Sumire, which made the mortal girl mildly resentful toward her. Then again, she was trapped and there was no way around the bonds of the scholarship, so she saw no use in complaining and decided it would be best to suffer in silence rather than provoking Lucia.

At the table in front of them, two students were whispering. Because she found the lesson dreadfully boring, Sumire couldn't help but listen in on the conversation. "Next week, that's what I heard, but it's just a rumor. She might not even be coming." Said one girl, who had long fangs and dark purple eyes with diamond shaped pupils.

The other student, a toad demon with large eyes and a tongue that almost fell out of her mouth every time she spoke, replied quietly, "I heard she's beautiful and comes from a noble family of Elementals."

"I wonder what she controls." The first girl murmured, "Maybe fire?"

"Gods, I hope not." Groaned the other, "They've always got quick tempers and end up burning down a dorm building."

"We'll just have to wait until she arrives." The fanged girl decided. The class bell rang and the students were already packed up and walking out of the room before Sumire realized what was happening.

'_Another new student…'_ she thought, '_I wonder what she's like.' _She was forced out of her thoughts by Lucia, who was speaking. "What'd you say, Lucia?"

"You weren't listening, huh?" Lucia replied, shaking her head, "Well then you don't need to know. You're loss."

"No, tell me!" Sumire insisted, standing up and packing her things as she spoke, "Please?"

"Then carry my things." Demanded Lucia, holding out her bag.

"No way!" the younger girl exclaimed, "I've got my own stuff to carry."

"Ok then." She closed her mouth and began to walk away; torturous are always.

"Fiiiiiine." Sumire grumbled. Lucia stopped and let Sumire take the bag and sling it over her shoulder. Then the younger girl grabbed the books from Lucia's hands as well. The elder girl smiled sweetly and Sumire groaned as she felt the weight of Lucia's bag on her shoulder, "Don't gimme that face; you know you're a devil."

"No, I'm a Sorceress. If you don't know that by now I'd say we really do need to study tonight." Lucia teased, "Now as I was saying before when you weren't listening, that new elite student everyone's talking about is arriving tonight. We have to go escort her from the front gate."

"So I wasn't gonna get to sleep tonight anyway." Sumire mumbled, cursing under her breath.

"Well, that's entirely up to her. It shouldn't take long to walk with her from the gate to my Uncle's office. That's why I considered studying tonight." Lucia said as they walked down the busy hall. The younger couldn't help but notice how everyone seemed to get out of the way for Lucia, but still somehow managed to shove Sumire as they walked by. What had she ever done to deserve such cruel treatment? She glanced up at Lucia, confident, radiating beauty and strength, a real demon if Sumire had ever seen one. _'Oh yea, I'm stuck with her.'_ She thought, _'No one knows what she's really like...'_ She bit her lip as another student shoved her, knocking a book out of her hand.

Lucia, who hadn't seemed to be paying attention, swiftly turned and caught the text before it hit the floor. She put it on Sumire's pile of books. Then she looked at the student who shoved Sumire with a very cold, stern expression. "Perhaps you should be more attentive and watch where you are going from now on." She said in a grave, yet emotionally detached voice. The student, who looked both terrified and in awe, nodded quickly and rushed off into the crowd; no doubt going to tell her friends about the encounter.

Sumire caught herself wondering if it were possible that she still did not know what Lucia was really older girl never ceased to surprise her, every time Sumire thought she had Lucia figured out, she'd go and do something completely out of character.

Lucia glanced over at Sumire, raising her eyebrow then shaking her head slowly, "Really, you're so clumsy. Be more careful with my books."

Sumire changed her mind abruptly_, 'Wait! I know exactly what she's like… she's cruel, devious, and self-centered!' _Although she'd originally been inclined to thank Lucia for standing up for her, the thought quickly vanished. Instead, Sumire frowned at her and mumbled something about Lucia carrying her own books, but the other girl didn't hear it. They walked into the cafeteria, where they went to their usual table which no one else dared to sit at. Lucia didn't appear to be conscious of the way everyone hushed as she entered the room, nor how they watched her until she finally sat down. Sumire always dreaded lunch a little bit; the Sorceress insisted on them sitting awkwardly close to each other, like they were joined at the hip, and all the other creatures stared at her with envious dagger-eyes. Lucia must have enjoyed the attention, but she still managed to pretend as if she was ignoring it. Nevertheless, she always ended up doing things that would cause the other students to whisper or watch intently.

Today Lucia had an especially conniving grin. "You don't need to buy lunch; Lola made enough for both of us." Lucia said, referring to her uncle's secretary, a living doll named Lola who had unrivaled skills in spells, incantations, and fortune telling. She was also a pretty good cook when she wasn't smothering everything in chocolate. Lucia gestured for her bag, which Sumire handed over gratefully. Lucia reached in and pulled out a box, which she opened to reveal what looked like a gourmet meal.

"No chocolate, it's a miracle." Sumire cheered sarcastically, she'd expected to see everything dripping with it.

"I threatened her after the last lunch she made us; she'll never dip cucumber and eel sushi in chocolate again." Lucia promised, "Now go on, eat."

"No, thank you." Sumire declined the offer politely.

"You've got to have some, you need the energy." The Sorceress replied, "And, I've noticed your eating habits are… less than healthy."

"My '_eating habits_' are fine. I eat healthy things." Sumire claimed, though she knew it wasn't true. She'd only had junk food for the past few days. However, she suspected that Lucia was up to something and did not want to accept the food.

"Ramen isn't a nutritious meal." Retorted Lucia, Sumire cringed at the statement, a little embarrassed that Lucia was so attentive, "Have this."

"I'm not hungry." stated Sumire, however her stomach betrayed her and growled just as she spoke. Lucia shook her head.

"You're always hungry." The older girl persisted, "Just eat some."

"I can't take your lunch, Lucia. I'll go get my own." Said Sumire, turning to find her wallet in her bag and realizing she left it in her locker. She doubted she had any money in it anyway, but hoped to use it as an opportunity to escape the lunch table and the older girl. Lucia, knowing Sumire all too well, grabbed her wrist before she could get up.

"We both know you're broke." Lucia contended, "So lunch is on me today, I insist." Before Sumire could argue, the Sorceress quickly took a piece of sushi from the box and held it in front of the other girl's mouth. "Go on, take it."

"Are you honestly trying to feed me?" asked Sumire, turning her head away. "I don't want it!"

"Oh must you be so childish? Open your mouth." Lucia ordered, her eye narrowing, "Or I'll make you open it." Judging by Lucia's voice, Sumire would be foolish not to heed the threat.

"Ok, ok." Sumire finally agreed, apprehensively opening her mouth. Lucia slowly put it in, grazing Sumire's lips with her fingertips as she pulled her hand back.

"There…" she said with a sly smirk, "Not so hard, is it?"

"It's not like I've never eaten food before…" grumbled Sumire as she chewed and her ears reddened; she was well aware that everyone in the cafeteria had stopped eating just to leer at her. "I can feed myself."

The Sorceress laughed, "If you'd taken it when I first offered I wouldn't have had to feed you. Have some more."

"What about you, aren't you going to eat?" Sumire asked, unable to deny that the food was good but hesitant to take another piece.

"I'm not hungry." Lucia replied offhandedly, smiling at Sumire as her mouth dropped open in disbelief.

"Oh no you don't!" exclaimed the younger girl, "You better eat some of this too!" Lucia had already turned away and started talking to a Harionago girl at the adjacent table. She made some generically flirtatious statement and the demon was like putty in her hands, hanging on every word she spoke and replying eagerly when she could. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" The demon girl stopped speaking and glared at Sumire, angry for cutting in on her dialogue with Lucia, which was a rare occurrence for any student. Her barbed hair twisted menacingly and Sumire feared it would run her through, yet she spoke once more, "Fine, I'm finished eating too then."

"Keep eating or I'll be forced to feed you again." Said Lucia, without turning around. She continued her conversation with the Harionago, laughing at something the demon said and acting refined and charming as always even though the girl was already mooning over her. Sumire grumbled and put another piece of sushi in her mouth. Lucia was so frustrating, had she planned this? Sumire speculated that the Sorceress would hold this over her, or make her do something to pay the older girl back for giving away her lunch even though Sumire refused it. Defiantly, Sumire put the lid on the box, which Lucia heard. She turned around with a displeased expression. "I thought I told you to eat."

"You did. But I'm not if you're not." Replied Sumire. Lucia frowned.

"Very well then, I'll just have to feed you again." Decided Lucia, shaking her head and opening the box again. She picked up a piece of sushi and looked up at Sumire, "Ok, Op-" Just as she'd begun to speak, Sumire quickly and quiteunexpectedly pushed a piece of Sushi into Lucia's mouth. The Sorceress didn't chew, but she didn't spit it out either. She just closed her mouth and sat there looking at Sumire. She remained unmoving; staring at the other girl with an unreadable expression, unable to believe she hadn't seen that coming.

"Ok, now I can eat." She said with a grin, taking another piece from the box and popping it in her own mouth. Finally, a smile crossed Lucia's face. She chewed and swallowed the sushi, then chuckled softly.

"Hey Sumire…" she said in a mildly threatening tone, causing the younger girl to back away nervously, "Open wide!" Lucia tried to make Sumire eat another piece, but Sumire pushed her hand back and kept her mouth closed. It turned into a strangely playful struggle, both girls started laughing as each tried to overpower the other. Soon enough, the whole cafeteria was watching them again, but neither noticed. Giving up, Lucia relaxed back into her seat and put the sushi in her mouth, chewing it quietly. She sighed and glanced at Sumire, who was looking at her tentatively. "What?" she asked.

Sumire was silent, staring at Lucia with an unsure expression. Something in her emerald eyes shifted, they were suddenly piercing, but Lucia couldn't make out what the change meant. Sumire leaned forward and put her hand on Lucia's cheek. The Sorceress' eye widened as a million scenarios played out in her head, Sumire had never looked like this before and certainly never touched Lucia's face. "What are you doing?" Lucia asked, her voice faintly anxious which was very unlike her.

"You've got some rice… right here." She brushed it off gently with her thumb. They both looked at each other for a long time; the cafeteria was motionless, everyone was silently watching them. Someone dropped a tray and the sound of it clattering on the ground broke the silence. Sumire started laughing and hastily pulled her hand away as she sat back."Oh, you should've seen your face!" she laughed, reaching for her notebook and grinning at Lucia. Slowly, everyone went back to what they were doing, most of them cursing Sumire under their breath. Lucia, however, did not move right away. She touched her cheek where Sumire had caressed it and looked at the younger girl, who was no longer looking at her, but at the notebook instead.

"Yea, really funny." Whispered Lucia, rising from her seat, "I need something to drink, do you want anything?"

"No, thanks." Replied Sumire, pretending to study.

"I'm bringing you something anyway." said Lucia, Sumire didn't argue. As Lucia crossed the lunchroom, Sumire let out a huge sigh of relief. What had she been thinking? '_It's just cause she teases me all the time, I had to get her back. And it was pretty funny to see her get nervous for once.' _She mused, turning a page in the notebook. Someone walked up behind her.

"So, you think you're such hot shit because you're always hanging around the Dark Prince, huh?" accused a rather fat demon with a large nose and short, dull horns protruding from her skull. Sumire's first impression was that she looked like a cow, but then she realized she wasn't even sure if there was such a thing as a "cow demon" and if there was she most certainly did not know the name for it. Rather than responding to the large girl, she curiously opened her textbook and started searching for such a creature.

"Ignoring us, eh?" hissed an Akaname with putrid breath, her long tongue hanging from her mouth.

Sumire kept her face in the book, turning a page quietly and trying to ignore the odor. The "cow" slammed a pudgy fist on the table, "Hey bitch, I'm talking to you!" As if she'd forgotten entirely that the fat girl was there, which is quite possible, Sumire looked up with a dazed expression.

"She only pities you, so don't get cocky!" growled a third demon, a Kiyohime with serpentine scales instead of skin and a forked tongue. She shoved Sumire's shoulder.

"Just because she hangs out with you doesn't give you the right to act all arrogant." Grumbled the first demon, "You think you're better than us? I could eat you right now, human!"

"I don't doubt that…" murmured Sumire under her breath.

"You don't even belong in this school, you pathetic mortal trash!" yelled the Akaname. Suddenly, there were five demon girls crowding around Sumire and closing in. The loomed menacingly over the small girl, who look surprisingly calm and rather disinterested in all of them. She didn't speak; instead she just gazed down her book and turned another page.

"I said I was talking to you!" shouted the fat demon, hitting Sumire's textbook off the table. Sumire, who was used to bullying of all kinds by now, sighed and leaned to pick up the book, which the serpent girl kicked just out of reach. They all laughed, "Fuckin' pathetic, you don't deserve to stand by our Prince."

Sumire looked up at the cow, "I never asked to." She got up from the table, pushing through the girls and going to pick up her textbook. She brushed it off and looked at the cow again, "But what makes you think you're more worthy than I am? Is it because you've got useless horns and a fat face?" The cafeteria was quiet again, except for a few gasps as a result of Sumire's statement.

"None of us are worthy! She is too perfect, too amazing to be involved with any of us, or any of the boys at the South Institute." hissed the serpent girl.

"Before she fell, The 'Demon Princess' was the only one who came close."Added the cow.

Sumire had heard of the fabled 'Demon Princess' a few times in the dorms. Apparently, she was vampire or something of the sort. She was supposed to be extremely attractive and incredibly admired at the demon academy, but had joined a rebel group of demons and disappeared. "Who are you to say who she should associate herself with? How many times have you actually spoken to Lucia?"

"You have the nerve to call her by her first name!?" shrieked the Akaname, the cow girl silenced her.

"Last year, she said good morning to me." Replied the first demon, her pudgy cheeks turning pink as she thought back on the brief moment.

"She asked me to move in the hallway once." Added the Kiyohime, grinning, "I remember it like yesterday, '_Please move…'_, that's what she said, I almost fainted_."_

"She asked me to marry her!" exclaimed another demon, all of them looked at her with astounded faces, "in a dream I had…"

Sumire scoffed and set the book on the table. "You don't know Lucia, none of you do. You've put her up on some pedestal, but you didn't even realize that you've forced her to be alone." She shook her head, surprised at herself for feeling rather sorry for Lucia, "Besides she's not as astounding as you all think she is."

"How dare you say that!" exclaimed the Kiyohime, "She's like a goddess!"

"No, she's just an average student." Sumire replied. "Yes, she's very smart and beautiful, but none of you know what she's really like. She can be rude and immature; she teases and jokes around just like the rest of you. She makes mistakes, she has flaws. She's not all that different you… except for the fact that she's the only one of you that isn't obsessed with the fact that I'm human."

"Pity, it's just pity." Said the serpent, "It's because she's such a kind, caring, wonderful person, too blinded by her compassion to see what a sickening wretch you are."

"I'd give anything to be in your position!" cried the Akaname.

Sumire started laughing, "Caring, kind? You've got to be talking about someone else. She only ever teases me, she bosses me around and makes me do her work. I would gladly switch with you, you can take my place, _you_ do her laundry, _you_ share a room with her, let her keep _you_ up all night, every night. I haven't slept in 4 days! I can't take it anymore!"

All of the demon girls started blushing, undoubtedly wondering what their 'Prince' was doing to keep Sumire up every night for four days. Wild fantasies made their imaginations run rampant. The serpent girl swooned and fell into the Akaname's arms, who was looking at Sumire in with a mystified expression, her face entirely red. "How could our 'Dark Prince' choose a human like you to be her lover?" The cow looked like she wanted to cry.

"L-lover?!" exclaimed Sumire, trying not to burst out laughing, "No, you've got it wrong, we go out on patro-"

"Did you hear that? The human admitted that they 'go out'!" cried the serpent.

"No!" Sumire replied, rather exasperated, "I mean, uh, like tonight we're going to escort the ne-"An arm wrapped around her shoulder, stopping her from explaining that they'd misunderstood.

"You're not sharing out nighttime secrets, are you Sumire?" Lucia asked, smiling charismatically and sipping from a straw. The demon girls all giggled and blushed some more, suddenly unable to form coherent sentences. "I doubt these ladies should hear about such private things."

"No, I was trying to tell them about our patr-" began Sumire before Lucia put the straw in her mouth, shutting her up.

"I got us a drink to share, it's your favorite." She said, still smiling, her grasp on Sumire tightened and she pulled the other girl close. "Watch what you say…" She whispered, giving Sumire a warning glance and returning her attention to the girls. "I need to speak with my roommate alone, if you'll excuse us." The girls, now mesmerized by Lucia's presence, nodded and drifted away in a dreamlike daze.

"I can't believe that our 'Prince' is dating that thing!" whined the Akaname.

"Psh, it'll never last." Grumbled the cow, mildly irate and most certainly envious. Sumire sat down and handed Lucia back her drink. The younger girl had never seen it before, but Lucia looked angry, raging almost.

"Are you trying to get yourself expelled? If you tell anyone about those patrols or your involvement in them then even my uncle won't be able to stop the school council from kicking you out. Those are confidential, average students can't know!" hissed the Sorceress, glancing around nervously.

"Geez, I could've used that information like… the moment I got here!" exclaimed Sumire, wondering if getting expelled would be a better option.

"And you almost mentioned the new student's arrival tonight!" Lucia groaned in disbelief, "She's arriving at night for a reason… so no one sees her!"

"How was I supposed to know it's a secret?" Sumire exclaimed to her defense.

Lucia groaned, "Just be more careful, I don't think you understand the severity of this situation."

"You drag me around all night on these 'missions' and I never even know what we're doing. It's about time you tell me what's really going on." Demanded Sumire.

The other girl looked around, "Obviously I can't right now." She murmured. She sighed, "You do have a right to know, later though, ok?" She relaxed in her seat and half-smiled, "Did you notice everyone's looking at you right now?"

"You're just trying to change the subject." Grumbled Sumire.

"No really, they are." Lucia observed. Sumire looked around the room; it was true, everyone was glaring at her now. Sumire felt like every girl in the academy was leering at her.

"It's your fault! They think we're… dating or something ridiculous like that." whined Sumire, "And you certainly didn't help the situation when you put that straw in my mouth."

"So what, let them think what they want." Replied Lucia, smirking and touching Sumire's face as she leaned toward her, "Say, we could really give them something to talk about. What do you think?"

Sumire shrugged away, "Stop it, that's not funny!"

Lucia burst out laughing, "But it is, it really is." The bell rang a second later and Sumire was up, collecting her things and leaving Lucia in the cafeteria, even though they were going to the same class. She waded, alone, through the crowds of students. It wasn't funny, not to Sumire anyway. _'Why does she have to tease me?' _she thought grudgingly, blushing despite her were whispering around her, gossiping about how she was an unworthy human and how she didn't deserve to be with the "Dark Prince". Sumire bit her lip and kept walking. Suddenly, a foot shot out, someone tripped her, and she fell to the ground. Her books skidded across the hallway floor, but no one slowed to help her. She considered just laying there and letting them trample her, but a hand reached for her and dragged her to her feet. The hand belonged to a small demon girl with pink eyes and long brown hair tied into a ponytail. She smiled but didn't speak, instead she handed Sumire one of her books and disappeared into the crowd.

Sumire tried to find her, but was stopped by Lucia, who stepped in front of her and shook her head. "I told you never to go off on your own. It's dangerous! You're so thoughtless." Behind the Sorceress, someone mumbled about hearing that they were a couple. Sumire forgot about the small demon girl, blushed again, and clenched her fists.

"We don't need to walk together all the time, ok?" declared Sumire, "I can handle myself!"

"Apparently not, I just saw you with your cheek pressed to the tile." The Sorceress argued, "C'mon, we're gonna be late."

"I don't need you protecting me all the time!" Sumire exclaimed, "You're the reason I get bullied!"

"Hey, calm down! Geez, what's gotten into you Sumire?" Lucia asked in a hushed tone. Sumire realized that everyone had stopped walking to see what the commotion was about.

One student grinned, "Ooooh, lover's quarrel?" she hissed, her friends giggling around her. Sumire felt incredibly embarrassed, she quickly picked up the rest of her books and began walking away.

Lucia grabbed her arm, "Wait, what's wrong? I can't be worried about you?"

Sumire frowned, didn't Lucia care what they were saying? Or did she not hear them? A Futakuchi-onna teacher walked into the hall with a scowl on both her mouths; she ordered everyone to stop dawdling and get to class. The students began moving again, whispering about what they'd just seen, but Lucia and Sumire did not move.

"I'm sorry, I'm just tired. Can we go to class now?" Sumire mumbled ruefully, wishing she hadn't yelled at Lucia in the hallway.

"It's fine," Lucia replied, letting go of Sumire's arm, "Just be more careful, ok?" She looked at the other girl apologetically, "Are you sure you even want to go to class? You can go back to the dorm and sleep, I'll take your notes and catch you up later. You need to be awake for tonight's patrol anyway."

Sumire sighed, she'd forgotten about the patrol. She glanced up at Lucia, she'd never really been kind to Sumire before, yet her offer sounded sincere. Had she actually been worried about her? How could she go from being arrogant and exasperating to entirely endearing in a matter of minutes? Perhaps it was part of her charm. "It's ok," Sumire said, "I can't miss class." She half-smiled at Lucia, "Let's go."

The rest of the day went by slowly, neither girl spoke much. Surprisingly, Sumire didn't fall asleep in anymore classes, but she wasn't paying much attention either. While Lucia took notes, Sumire's mind drifted away. She wondered what Lucia would tell her about the patrols and why they had to be kept secret. She also thought about the new student who would be arriving later that night. She peeked over at Lucia, who was absorbed in the lesson. She wanted to apologize again for yelling at her in the hallway, after all, she was only trying to look after her. Lucia caught her eye and grinned, "Are you planning to fall behind in this class too? Cause I don't mind having to tutor you _every_ night." Sumire grimaced, quickly opened her notebook, and scratched down the notes, knowing immediately that it was probably going to be another long night.

* * *

So, our main characters have some serious maturing to do, and I promise they will over the duration of the story. You'll find them frustrating now but you will most certainly love what conspires because of their dissimilar personalities. :]

Also, I will mention now that I have just been hired at yet another restaurant, I'm a bartender btw, so I'm juggling two jobs, school, and I got cast in a short play, therefore my chances to write will be limited. I will promise that I absolutely REFUSE to let this hurt my story, and I will tell you now that this story will be updated frequently. I can't promise that it will be every week, but that's what I'm going for.

I'm excited, this piece has a lot in store so please subscribe and review, your feedback keeps me going!

OH AND - Dear Meg, (Bernkastle)

It won't let me message you back, it says something about you not accepting private messages...? I think you're absolutely amazing for making such an offer, I would really adore you forever if you sent me the things you mentioned. And does this mean you've already read volume 8 and know the ending? Oh man, I'm freaking out just thinking about it.


	3. Chapter 2: Sneaking Out

Alright! It's finally posted. Sorry for the long wait.

Read, enjoy, review! :]

* * *

Sumire rubbed her temples and dropped her pen. She couldn't look at the page a moment longer, otherwise she was certain that her head would explode. Unbelievably frustrated, she was almost compelled to throw the damned book out the window or find a fire elemental to burn it to ashes. Without Lucia there to explain, even if she was fairly overconfident and domineering, Sumire felt entirely doomed to failure. Suddenly miserable, she slouched over on the desk and groaned.

Recently, she'd begun to believe that entering the demon academy was the worst decision she'd ever made. She missed her old life, the normalcy, the averageness of it all. She thought of her ordinary family, her mundane school, and all the typical teenagers that attended it. Yes, it was boring, quite dreary actually, but it was uncomplicated. Everything had been simple until that awful day when she woke up and discovered she could see creatures she'd never seen before, and that she was the only person she knew that could see them. They were terrifying, awful things that walked, unnoticed, among humans. A number of these monsters plagued homes and toyed with people's lives for their personal entertainment. Others ignored humans all together and went about their own business. Some of these creatures controlled fate itself, and somehow Sumire was chosen, cursed in her mind, to see them every day. It became dangerous, however, when the demons realized that Sumire could see them just as well as they could see her.

She hated the 'gift' she'd been bestowed with. She remembered the day she escaped a demon by dodging into the local library, she almost bumped into a peculiar man standing in the religious section. He seemed normal until he realized that she could see him and instantly presented her with a dozen or so questions that she couldn't answer. He wouldn't leave her alone, she immediately fascinated him. The feeling was not mutual; she was more unsettled by the way his eyes lingered on her for long periods of time. At the time, it seemed like a miracle that he knew that she could see demons, she'd never admitted it aloud, yet this surprise was mostly because she didn't know he was one himself. It wasn't just her 'sight' that interested him, he observed something else within her, something that intrigued him enough to ask her to attend the school for which he was the Dean. Before he left, he said she had a lot of potential and hidden powers that could only be discovered if she studied at the academy. He promised that if she attended the school she'd understand everything she was witnessing and she'd be able to protect herself from the demons. Without much thought, she accepted his offer, she decided her life depended on being able to fight the demons she saw. She had believed her parents wouldn't be very supportive of her choice, but they were shockingly excited. They were under the impression that the academy was some sort of Ivy League school, and the full scholarship certainly pleased them.

Initially, Sumire had been eager to attend the school; she wanted to know why she could see the mysterious and frightening creatures, and how to make it stop. Unfortunately, the Dean never mentioned that the school she'd study at was one meant for the very creatures she feared, which threw Sumire when she first walked through the gates of the Academy. In hindsight, screaming like a crazy person at the top of her lungs and hiding behind Sōichirō probably wasn't the best way to make a good first impression. Worst of all, even after surviving two entire months at the academy she only had _more_ unanswered questions and woke up every day expecting to be devoured by some ill-tempered demon.

She yawned, wishing she had skipped class and gone to sleep for a little while. Since they'd returned to the dorm room, Lucia had been forcing her to study elementary charms and hexes, things demon children would know. Sumire looked around, Lucia wasn't anywhere in sight, she wondered if she could get away with a fifteen minute nap. However, she imagined the punishment she'd receive if Lucia caught her and decided it was not worth the risk. Hopelessly, she glanced down at the spell book again. She never studied anything like this at her old school; her knowledge of chemistry did nothing to help her with the mystical herbs, powders, elixirs, and potions. There were spells to turn a man into a pig, to make a mouse a horse, or bring a tree to life, but nothing useful; she almost missed Calculus and Shakespeare. '_A spell that makes it so I'm never tired would be nice,'_ Sumire mused, '_or maybe a minion hex…' _She imagined Lucia becoming her servant: following her every command, doing all her chores and homework, and never embarrassing her again or forcing her to stay up to study. The girl grinned, "Oh, if only…"

"Judging from your satisfied expression, you've finished reading chapter 8, right?" observed the Sorceress as she entered the room. Sumire turned quickly to see her, she always had a sneaking suspicion Lucia could read her mind, so she feared that the Sorceress knew what she had just been thinking and would be angry. The notion was quite ridiculous, of course Lucia couldn't read minds, it just so happened that Sumire was about as transparent as a sheet of glass and anyone could tell what she was thinking. Sumire got nervous when couldn't spot Lucia immediately, was she preparing some sort of surprise attack? Sumire surely wouldn't see it coming, Lucia was veiled by a thick cloud of steam that poured from the bathroom door. She cringed, waiting for her punishment. The vapor dissipated and Sumire couldn't believe her eyes; wrapped only in a short, thin white towel, her pale bare skin misted and sparkling, her hair soaked and twisted in another small cloth, Lucia emerged from the steam.

Sumire's breath caught, Lucia was stunningly beautiful, more so then that; for a brief moment Sumire truly believed she was under some sort of enchantment spell. She tried to keep herself from gawking when her focus was captured by something peculiar. From where she sat, the young girl could see that Lucia was not wearing her eye-patch, but covering her eye with her hand instead. Sumire had never once seen Lucia without the patch on. Part of her wished the Sorceress would drop her hand and reveal the mysterious eye, but the rest of her was too terrified by the rumors she'd heard. Someone had once told her that a single glimpse into Lucia's eye could kill a person instantly, another said the it was used to control students, a third swore that hell itself resided in Lucia's infamous eye. Sumire had even heard that Lucia used it to seduce unsuspecting victims, demons and humans alike. Yet, seeing the Sorceress like this made Sumire doubt she needed such a power, she'd have no trouble seducing anyone she wanted. Sumire held her breath as the other girl moved across the room. She did not go to Sumire, instead Lucia went to her dresser and put her on eye-patch. Sumire took a deep breath of relief, she wouldn't be staring into Lucia's eye anytime soon.

Lucia pulled the smaller towel from her hair and let her still dripping, light-blue tresses drape on her shoulders. Sumire watched a droplet land on Lucia's collarbone and slowly slip down her chest into her cleav-…_'WHAT AM I LOOKING AT!?'_ Sumire suddenly realized her heart was racing; she'd been staring at the sorceress with her jaw slightly slack since she'd appeared in the steam, and surely Lucia had been enjoying the attention.

"Close your mouth," Lucia laughed, "It's rather unbecoming."

"Geez, put some clothes on then!" exclaimed Sumire, grumbling as her face went from pink to red, "I didn't expect you to come out of the bathroom like that."

"You mean wet, or scantily clad?" Lucia teased, "Because normally when people come out of the shower they're both."

Sumire glared at Lucia, "You know what I meant."

"Besides, it's my room. I can walk around naked if I choose to." Lucia continued. Gradually her grasp on her towel loosened. Sumire gasped and quickly covered her eyes, ignoring the tiny part of her that was compelled to peek between her fingers. Lucia started laughing. When Sumire finally looked, she found that Lucia was already partially dressed underneath the towel. She'd thrown on a strapless tank top which Sumire recognized as her own. Sumire couldn't help but notice the black lacy panties Lucia had put on too. "I borrowed this, I hope you don't mind." Lucia explained, referring to the tank top, "Disappointed? I can take it off if you want."

"Just put your own clothes on already." Sumire groaned, returning her attention to her textbook, "We gotta get ready to go get that new student soon anyway."

"Do you need me to help you study?" Lucia asked, changing her clothing, "You looked like you wanted something when I came out of the bathroom." Sumire blushed again but didn't look away from her book this time.

"No, just get ready." She said, pretending to write down a note. Now she really couldn't focus on her studies, she cringed because midterms were coming up soon. She didn't want to ask Lucia for help, instead she tried to force herself to understand the Latin text in her book.

"You can't hide it, Sumire. I know you don't understand a word you're reading right now." Lucia replied, having already put on a long black dress, which was tight and form fitting but also perfect for combat if necessary. She tied her hair up and laced her boots. "Let me help you, we're partners aren't we?" She sat beside the other girl, who was suddenly overwhelmed by the smell of roses, Lucia's seemingly natural scent. Lucia took the book from Sumire's hands and began explaining the text, stating that the particular spells Sumire was looking at were used for quick healing. Sumire listened but still couldn't process the information, so Lucia began again.

"Ok, listen. If I… had a cut on my arm, you could use this spell to stop the bleeding." Lucia said, "It won't heal the wound, but at least there wouldn't be serious blood loss."

"Couldn't we just use a band-aid?" Sumire whined.

Lucia rolled her eye, "Not if it's a big cut, band-aids only cover small wounds. Believe me, it comes in handy. And this spell here, this one relieves pain, while saying it you have to picture the person in agony and then see the pain fleeing from them or else it won't work."

"Isn't there like…a two-in-one thing? I'll never remember all this. Hey, is there a remembrance spell?" Sumire asked.

"Hah, that'd make it too easy." Lucia said, "We can practice this one if you want," She rose to her feet and went to her dresser to retrieve something.

"Lucia, what type of demon is the new student?" Sumire asked, both curious and eager to distract Lucia from the lesson, she was not ready to try any spells.

"Trying to change the subject, huh?" Lucia accused, still searching for whatever was at the dresser.

"I think I should know before I meet her." Claimed Sumire, a valid argument.

Lucia found the object she'd been seeking and returned to Sumire's side, "You'll just have to wait and see. Pay attention." She said as she revealed a small silver pin. She pricked her own finger and Sumire flinched, watching a little bit of blood escape. "Now repeat after me." Lucia began to speak, the words, though beautiful when spoken by Lucia, only sounded like gibberish to Sumire, but the girl tried her best to mimic them anyway. Finally, Lucia finished the spell and showed Sumire her finger, "See, stopped bleeding."

"That's only cause it was a little prick." Sumire argued, "It wouldn't have bled much anyway."

Lucia raised an eyebrow, "Would you like me to cut open my palm and you could try again?"

"No!" exclaimed Sumire, "I just…ugh, I can't believe that saying these ridiculous things actually works."

"I see… Well, it can't be helped. We'll have to work on this later or we will be late to meet the new student. Are you ready?" Sumire nodded slowly and got up, closing her book crossly. "Don't get so frustrated, you'll get it eventually."

"Right…" Sumire replied, realizing how bitter and ungrateful she'd been acting, "Thanks Lucia."

The Sorceress nodded, "No thanks necessary, it's my job to teach you." She reached for her gun, something Sumire had seen her carry every night since she'd arrived, but never actually use. Lucia was a Sorceress, was she not? Why did she need a little pistol? Sumire didn't ask, she just watched Lucia put the weapon in a holster at her side.

Lucia smiled and held the door open, "C'mon, can't keep her waiting." She quickly glimpsed around the corner in the dimly lit hallway and checked for anyone wandering the corridors. "We've got to be careful, if the Dorm Mistress catches us then we'll be stuck in our room all night and my uncle will be pretty upset."

"Well, if it weren't for a certain someone's misuse of our permanent pass, we wouldn't have to sneak out at all." Sumire hissed, eying Lucia sternly.

"I didn't think I'd get caught…" mumbled Lucia, peering around another corner, "Normally I don't."

"But you did, and now we have to sneak around all the time or Sōichirō has to answer too many questions for the school council's liking. Urgh. What were you thinking, sneaking into other girls rooms at night?" Sumire inquired, Lucia had never given her a straight answer on the subject. It was mildly suspicious to Sumire that Lucia seemed to avoid explaining why she had been wandering in the other girl's dorm that evening. "I mean, what could you have been doing?"

Lucia paused, then smirked, "Oh…you know… _this and that_." Before Sumire could inquire as to what Lucia meant, a pudgy Kijo women appeared at the end of the hall. "Damn, she's making her rounds early." Sumire stared in terror, she'd never seen such a horrifyingly ugly monster. The poor lighting didn't help, but Sumire could easily tell that she was fat, no, _morbidly obese_. Her legs were stubby but her arms stretched down past her knees, her skin was an avocado shade, sickly green. Her eyes were squinty, beady things that looked in two separate directions at once with a potato shaped nose in between. She had yellow, cavity-ridden tusks that jutted out of her bottom jaw and over her upper lip. Her hair, if it could be considered hair at all, looked more like a rat's nest on the top of her head, snarled and the color of moldy hay. Lastly, her odor filled the hallway, a combination of Skunk, wet dog, and rancid eggs. Sumire tried not to get sick in the middle of the corridor, but she definitely felt her stomach lurch at the scent. "She's not much to look at, but she's not such a bad lady once you get to know her. Kinda sweet actually. She's strict though, she follows the rules by the book, so we really don't want to get caught tonight."

"Fine, just get me out of here before I lose the ability to stifle my gag reflex." Sumire hissed, trying to ignore the smell. "Oh gods, I can't breathe."

All of a sudden, the Dorm Mistress's light flashed towards them and Lucia quickly pulled Sumire back from the corner and against the wall. "Who is there?" asked the Kijo women in a raspy voice. "You belong in your room; lights out was an hour and twenty minutes ago." Lucia covered Sumire's mouth with a cold hand and began to back up in the direction they came. They could hear her walking towards them, Sumire's heart pounded louder with each step she took and she wondered if Koji had remarkable hearing like some of the other demons she encountered. "There's no use running, I already know you are here. I'm going to have to contact the dean." Lucia motioned at a window down the end of the dim corridor. She went to it and opened it quietly.

"That's not gonna help the stench..." said Sumire, covering her nose, "We need to get out of here."

"I know, hurry and climb out." Lucia responded.

Sumire put her head out the window and looked down. "What, do you want to jump? No way! It's five stories down!" The light flashed in their direction again and Lucia pushed Sumire out the window and leapt out as well, closing it behind her. Sumire tried to scream but Lucia caught her and covered her mouth again. Effortlessly, the Sorceress pulled her up onto the ledge, but Sumire could only see the ground five stories below. She felt her knees tremble, "Did you really just push me out a window!?" she cried.

Lucia shrugged, "You wouldn't have gone out otherwise."

"Yea, but I almost fell to my death!" Sumire replied, trying not to look down anymore.

"I caught you, didn't I?" Lucia said as she began to walk along the side of the building, looking for a way to the ground that Sumire could use too.

"That's not my point!" exclaimed Sumire.

"What is your point?" Lucia asked, "Do you think I'd ever actually risk your life on purpose?" She stared at Sumire with a unsympathetic expression, "I caught you as I had planned to, you're alive, now we have a mission to do, so come on already." This hushed Sumire, who followed behind Lucia feeling once again like she'd made herself a nuisance for The Sorceress. Lucia walked down the ledge carefully, Sumire remained where she was standing. She hadn't ever thought she was afraid of heights, but she was suddenly terrified, as any sane person would be on such a small ledge five stories above concrete. Lucia glanced over her shoulder, "Coming?"

"In a second…." Whispered Sumire, pressing herself against the building as if she was trying to force herself through the wall and into safety. She slowly made her way down to Lucia, who rolled her eye and kept walking, almost like a cat on a fence, she had no fear at all.

She rounded a corner and nimbly stepped over a crack in the ledge, "Don't step there, Sumire, that might not be very sta-". As she spoke, Sumire placed a shaking foot down on the ledge, which began to crumble beneath her. A moment later she was falling. "Sumire!" Lucia immediately jumped after her, snatching her arm and catching the ledge all at once. There they dangled; the only thing keeping them from plummeting toward the earth was Lucia's grasp on the ledge, which was beginning to slip. Lucia cursed. She looked down at Sumire, who was watching her with a panicked expression, silently begging Lucia not to let her go. Using all the strength she could collect, Lucia swung Sumire up toward the ledge. The mortal girl grabbed the ledge and managed to boost herself up. "Leave it to you to step exactly where I tell you not to." Grumbled the Sorceress as she began to pull herself to safety. However, the ledge began to crack again, it spread to Lucia's fingertips and the stone shifted; now Lucia was in danger. She tried to act quickly, to hoist herself to a safer spot, but it all happened too fast and it was already too late. As the stone fell, she reached hopelessly for anything that she could hold on to. In a second, Sumire's hand was around Lucia's wrist, keeping her suspended as pieces of the ledge fell around her.

"Hold…on." Said Sumire in a strained voice, trying to lift Lucia up but failing, she wasn't strong enough. The ledge was still falling apart, soon the crack would reach Sumire and both girls would be dropping once more. Lucia's eye locked with Sumire's, who knew immediately what she was thinking, "Don't." the younger girl mouthed, but Lucia had already started to let go. "No!" Sumire yelled as Lucia began to slip.

"There's no use in both of us dying." Lucia murmured, "Drop me, I'm stronger than you… maybe I'll survive."

Sumire's grasp tightened and she growled, "I said No!" She gritted her teeth and unexpectedly, as if Lucia was suddenly as light as a feather, she heaved the Sorceress up onto the ledge. They had no time to waste, the ledge was still crumbling and in a second, both girls were up and dashing toward a low roof. Sumire hurdled over a gap and landed on the roof, Lucia just behind her. They both fell there, panting.

Lucia looked at the arm Sumire had caught, it was red and already beginning to bruise, "When… did you get… so strong?" she asked breathlessly.

"Just…now." Sumire panted. Lucia looked at Sumire and rubbed her wrist tenderly, contemplating something. "I can't believe ..you tried to let go." She thought about it for a moment, "That was almost noble of you. You really are a prince."

For a moment, Sumire thought that she saw Lucia blush, but the Sorceress quickly moved away. Lucia let her breath catch up with her and got up, looking around the rooftop, still four stories up. She glanced over the edge and saw a place they could climb down. "Alrite, let's just go."

"What?" Sumire asked, a little stunned, "just like that?"

"Did you want to lay there for 15 more minutes? C'mon, we can't keep the student waiting. The gate guard is a lecher." Replied Lucia.

"I just saved your life, aren't you gonna thank me at least?" Sumire demanded, "I said nice things about you!"

"Why should I thank you? I saved you first! And neither of us would've been in that dangerous position if you had watched your step like I told you to." Lucia retorted.

"You're so inconsiderate!" accused Sumire, huffing with frustration.

"I saved you too, didn't I?" Lucia argued, but Sumire was already climbing down towards the ground. Lucia groaned and scaled down too. They walked down the path toward the front gate in an awkward silence, both relatively mad at the other for being so idiotic. Lucia didn't like the quiet tension between them and she also didn't like it when Sumire was actually mad at her. She considered succumbing and thanking Sumire, but she was too prideful for that. She watched Sumire out of the corner of her eye, managing to avert her gaze every time the younger girl glanced at her. Lucia glanced at her watch, "We're late… walk faster." She finally said.

"I'm already walking fast; my legs aren't as long as yours so my strides aren't as big." Replied Sumire coldly.

"Excuses…" mumbled Lucia, "I should've just left you behind."

"I'd rather be sleeping." Sumire said, wishing she were curled up under the covers instead of wandering in the night with the arrogant Sorceress. Lucia didn't say anything after that. Rather, in spite of Sumire, she began to walk faster which forced the other girl to pick up her pace. She almost had to run to keep up.

Finally, they reached the front gate. Sumire looked at the doors and recalled when she had first arrived at the academy. It was early in the morning, her parents couldn't follow her past the train station and instead the Dean escorted her to the school. She remembered gazing up at the doors in awe, she'd never seen anything so enormous. She knew right then that she was in over her head. Now as she looked at the doors, they looked bigger than she remembered, like they were towering over her and imprisoning her in the Academy.

"Otoroshi!" the Sorceress called, knocking on the guard station door next to the gate. "For your sake, you better not be sleeping again!" There was a sudden crashing sound, followed by cursing and fumbling. The door swung open and a short, stocky, hairy creature appeared. He looked at Lucia with a surprised and somewhat nervous expression. He was sloppily dressed in a guard's uniform, crumbs covered his hairy chin and the front of his stained shirt. Quickly he brushed them off, fixed his crooked hat, and tried to tuck in his shirt.

"No, Miss Lucia." He claimed, although he yawned, "I would never fall asleep on my post."

"I've caught you sleeping more than once." Replied Lucia, "Has the new student arrived?"

"Not yet Miss." Said the guard with accent Sumire couldn't place. He finally noticed the girl behind Lucia, "Ah! Hello young lady!" He grinned and bowed toward her, "I am Otoroshi Meijota, gate master of the Academy. I do not think I've had the pleasure of meeting you. Your name is?"

"Takahana Sumire, pleased to meet you." Sumire answered, bowing politely in response.

"You are a very beautiful," said the guard, eying Sumire up and down, "I wish lovely girls like you would visit me more often."

Lucia rolled her eye, "She's a human, Otoroshi, not your type. Open the gate already."

Otoroshi looked at Sumire as a strange smile crossed his face. He winked, "All females are my type." Lucia shoved him and he nearly fell over, "Fine, fine! I will open it." He turned and went back into the station. A moment later the large doors began to creak and moan, they slowly separated to reveal the woods that bordered the school walls. Sumire breathed, she felt tugging in her chest as she looked into the vast forest. She could run, she could escape the school and go back to her home, to her regular life. It didn't matter that she didn't know where she'd be going as long it wasn't the Academy. She could just sprint into the night and never look back.

"You there!" said a booming voice; Sumire felt her body tremble from the sound. She turned to see a massive stone monster, so large she had initially thought it was a great statue. She almost screamed as he knelt down, making the earth below their feet shudder. Unpredictably, he smiled at them. "Miss Lucia!" he exclaimed happily, "So good to see you again!"

"Cahir!" the Sorceress called, speaking louder so her voice could reach him, "It's good to see someone is keeping an eye on the gate!" The great monster laughed.

"Otoroshi tries, Miss Lucia. Don't be so hard on him." Said the monster.

"You are too kind to him, Cahir." Lucia replied.

"What task brings you here this evening?" Cahir asked, "And who is your friend?"

"This is Sumire… she's an apprentice." Lucia said, putting particular emphasis on the last word, "We're here to escort the new student. What can you see?"

"Why don't you take a look for yourself?" the stone monster asked, setting his massive hand on the ground. Lucia climbed into his palm and motioned for Sumire to join her, but the younger girl refused and stepped back. Lucia shrugged as Cahir stood up, raising Lucia into the sky with him.

With his head well over the tops of the trees, he could see easily. "The carriage comes, it will be here soon." He lifted Lucia to see as well.

Lucia sighed, then turned to the monster and said, "It's good we weren't late!" She eyed Sumire, who was still on the ground watching. She felt as if Lucia was accusing her of something. She walked away from the monster and stood by the gate. Lucia continued to talk to Cahir, even after he set her safely on the ground again.

Standing alone, Sumire shivered, regretting not grabbing her scarf or jacket before she left the dorm room. She looked into the woods again, Lucia was distracted, she could sneak off right then, unnoticed, unseen. She sighed; she had agreed to go to the school, no one was forcing her to stay, why did she feel like she needed to escape? Couldn't she just drop out and forget everything? She gazed up at the endless night sky and sighed again, feeling quite like a failure and a coward. She wanted to go back to the room, to finish studying, then collapse onto her bed and go to sleep for however long she could. She glanced at her phone, from the time she determined it wouldn't be very long at all. Where was this new student and why was she so late? She groaned, what was it about demons and their late-night arrivals, was it because they enjoyed the outside world too much… or was it merely for publicity and dramatic affect?

Sumire glanced at Lucia, who, from far away, looked like the alluring, appealing type of person. She smiled kindly at Cahir, laughing and enjoying their conversation. She didn't mind his size nor the fact that he could crush her beneath one of his massive fingers; she wasn't in the least bit afraid of him. Sumire wondered if she could be like that someday too, if she'd ever be accustomed to this otherworld. Sumire wished that Lucia would act with her as she did with monsters like Cahir, why couldn't they be civil with each other? She considered going over and joining the conversation, but was sidetracked when She heard a sound in the distance, hooves beating rapidly against the earth. A carriage became visible at the end of one of the paths leading into the forest. Lucia walked up and stood next to Sumire, Cahir had returned to his statuesque position.

"What kind of Demon is she?" Sumire murmured, realizing she still had no idea what to expect.

"An elemental, and an Elite, half Japanese but raised in France." Replied Lucia, "Be polite, be courteous, try not to act so… human." Sumire knew Lucia had meant it as a warning, not an insult, but it still sounded like one. She stood up straight as the carriage pulled up to them. The driver jumped down from his seat and went to open the door. The carriage was dark inside, it almost looked empty. Sumire was suddenly nervous, she put her hands at her side and tried to relax herself by regulating her breath.

The first thing Sumire saw were her legs, long and slender as she climbed out of the carriage and down the steps. Sumire's gaze went up her body, blushing as she saw how thin yet well endowed the elemental was. Finally Sumire saw her face, high cheek bones, lovely lips, piercing silver-blue eyes; her blonde hair curled and fell around her face and down her back. She was tall, elegant, and remarkably gorgeous, like a model or celebrity; dressed in obviously expensive clothing.

Barely moving her head, she nodded at the steward, who immediately proceeded to unload luggage. "Welcome." Lucia said with a strong voice, "We are honored to have you." The elemental didn't respond, she merely glanced at Lucia with a displeased expression, then turned her attention to Sumire. Her eyes fixed on the younger girl, which made Sumire feel most uncomfortable. "We are here to make sure you make it safely to the Dean's office."

The elemental didn't reply, instead she moved toward the two girls. She almost floated as she walked, gliding elegantly across the ground. She stopped a few inches short of Sumire, "Girl, what is your name?"

Sumire felt flustered, she quickly bowed but didn't speak. Lucia nudged Sumire, but the girl still didn't respond. "I am Nahashi Lucia," she said, gently bowing her head but not her entire body as Sumire did, "And this is-"

The elemental shifted her eyes to Lucia, "I asked this lovely creature," she interjected. She returned her attention to Sumire, "Please, won't you tell me?" Sumire looked up at her but was unable to speak, the new student was frighteningly beautiful, Sumire's mind went blank the moment she saw her. What the elemental did next was entirely unexpected. She took a step back, crossed her right foot in front of her left and western style, bowed forward respectfully, "I am Fugihara Alice," She reached out and took Sumire's hand, kissing it gently, "and I will make you mine."

Right away, Lucia did not respond well to the elemental. To be ignored and then cut off mid-sentence was something she was not used to. To make matters worse, the elemental hit on Sumire the entire way to the Dean's office while Lucia had to carry her luggage. Being a respectable and mature person, Lucia decided not to say anything to Alice, but was not above leering at her the rest of the night. Sumire, ever oblivious and too tired to pay much attention, probably wasn't even aware of the reality of the new student's advances. She blushed and made short, unsure responses to everything the elemental said, which only made Alice try harder.

"You are a human, aren't you?" asked Alice as she walked beside Sumire, "Why are you attending a demon school?"

"It's a long story, but it's basically cause I can see demons." Sumire replied.

"Well, that's an obvious answer. Otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation." Laughed the elemental, "I mean, what do you expect to achieve from studying here?"

"I'm not sure..." Sumire replied, "I don't really think I belong here. No one really likes humans at this school. All demons seem to want to kill me or eat me."

Alice frowned, "Many demons are like that, yes. But not all of us." She smiled at Sumire, "I would never dream of eating a human," she paused and thought about what she said, then with a sly smile added, "at least, not in that context." Upon hearing this, Lucia felt strangely enraged, how dare she say such a thing to Sumire! Of course, the comment went over the younger girl's head.

"It's nice to know there are demons out there like you, Miss Fugihara." Sumire said with a sweet smile, "I'm happy that you will be attending this school."

Realizing the innocence in Sumire's statement, Alice replied, "As am I, I do hope we will be _very close_ friends. We should probably start by calling each other by our first names." Lucia couldn't believe that Sumire wasn't picking up on Alice's comments, a brick wall in the middle of a highway would be subtler.

"Really?" Sumire asked, "But you are an elite, everyone should address you by a proper title."

"Not my friends." Said Alice with a stunning smile, "Go ahead, try it."

Sumire blinked and slowly mouthed her name, "Alice…" she whispered meekly, "That's a pretty name. But are you sure we can be friends? I mean… If you don't mind being seen with a human. Isn't that below you?"

"I don't care," stated Alice, "I want to get to know you, Sumire." The elemental glanced over her shoulder at Lucia, "But you, back there… you shall continue to call me Miss Fugihara." Lucia was at her courtesy's end, she was about ready to hurl the suitcases at the back of Alice's head.

When they arrived at the Dean's office, arrangements had to be made for the elite student. Lucia and Sumire were dismissed, one glance as the exhausted human girl made Sōichirō decide that he could fill them in at a later time. The two girls returned to their dorm room, where the readied themselves for bed.

Sumire sat on her bed with a sigh, looking at Lucia as she brushed her hair. "Do I have to study anymore?"

Lucia looked distracted, but she shook her head and set down her hair brush, "It would be best If you just went to sleep."

"Really?!" Sumire exclaimed, "You never let me sleep!"

"You want me to keep you up to study?" Lucia asked.

"No!" Sumire quickly replied, "I was just surprised." Lucia shook her head and let herself drift off in silent thought; something was on her mind, but Sumire was afraid to ask what. They were both quiet for a minute, "What did you think of Alice?" Sumire finally asked.

"Typical elite…" Lucia grumbled, drawn out of her reverie, "She's rude, pompous, arrogant, and… surprisingly clever, you need to watch out for her. Don't get to close."

"She was very nice to me." Sumire interjected, "I like her."

"She's a demon, you're a human, she's probably got something planned. It's dangerous." Lucia said.

"What, because I'm human it's impossible for a demon to actually like me?" Sumire asked angrily.

"No, that's not wh-" Lucia began.

"I mean, geez Lucia… I deserve some sort of companionship while I'm here. And you and I will never get along, but I have potential for some sort of friendship with Alice..." Sumire continued, glaring at Lucia, who wouldn't turn to face her. Sumire thought for a second, "…I think." She added doubtfully. She felt that everything Alice had said would change as soon as she saw how all the other demons treated Sumire and would ignore her as well.

"Suit yourself." Lucia said bluntly, "But don't expect me to rescue you." She went to her bed and got into it after switching off the light. She turned to face the opposite wall from Sumire."There's a mission tomorrow, but I'm going alone. It's too dangerous for someone with as little training as you."

"So you're going alone?" Sumire murmured, "Will it take long?"

"No, I doubt it… Go to sleep." Lucia groaned.

"Alright…" she whispered. However, as tired as she was, Sumire could not sleep. Her mind kept wandering back to the feelings she had when she stood at the gate, the desire to run and never stop until she was back with her family and friends she'd left behind. Then she thought of Alice and sighed, she wanted to believe the elemental, but she was apprehensive to trust a demon. It would be nice though, to have at least one friend in the Academy. Lastly, she thought of Lucia; her life would be so much easier if they could just get along. She was surprised when she realized how upset it made her. Finally, she decided she didn't want to be thinking about the Sorceress, she wanted to be asleep. She rolled over on her side and pulled the blanket over her head, but the strange sadness didn't go away.

Next to her, Lucia was wide awake. She listened to the girl, waiting for her breathing pattern to change and for her to fall asleep. Lucia's mind too, was plagued by thoughts of many things, though much more dark and troublesome than Sumire's. Quietly, she got out of bed. She changed her clothing, pulled on her combat boots, and tied up her hair once more. Before she opened the door to leave, she turned and looked at Sumire's bed. She wished that the girl would roll over, so that she could see her face, but the girl didn't move. Lucia shook her head, disappointed in herself for feeling that way, like she needed to see Sumire. Slowly, silently, she turned and opened the door, stepping out into the dim corridor and disappearing into the shadows.

* * *

Alright, so there you have it. Chapter 2! Mmmmm... Shower Lucia.

Uhm. yea, I don't have much to say except that I've already got most of chapter 3 done so it shouldn't take so long for me to post it this time.. plus I don't have tons of school stuff/work this week, so it'll be nice to finally have time to settle down and write. (I've literally been falling asleep on my keyboard the past few night to get this and a few papers finished cause I haven't had time.)

Oh, and a Kijo is described by Wikipedia as an ogre/hag women. So that's what the dorm mistress is.

And Elemental is a demon that ..well... controls the elements. :)

**Dear Meg, still can't private/direct message you for some reason, maybe you could switch your privacy controls? Thanks for the link! Unfortunately it didn't work. :( My computer said the site didn't exist or something. **

There's more characters and Demon Girl's academy epicness coming in chapter 3, so stay with me and keep reading! It'll be worth it, promise.

**Please review, it means a lot to me. **


	4. Chapter 3: Cloudy Days

Two Words: I'm sorry.

My dear, lovely, amazing, _**patient** readers. I've had the busiest three weeks of my life. It was quite an issue. Nonetheless, I've been working on this chapter the entire time, as well as the two chapters that follow. I've decided to reward your glorious patience and loyalty by posting these next three chapters every couple days (like 3 day periods in between) until Christmas. It will be a lot easier now that I am almost entirely finished with school.. I have two more exams tomorrow and then I'm off for a month so there will no longer be excessively long waits. Once again, I'm sorry. _

_Anyway, I'm off to work and then I need to study all night. So read, enjoy, review. (reviews keep me writing, they really do)_

* * *

Tangled in the bed sheets, Sumire yawned, stretched, and rolled over onto her belly. The wetness on her pillow was the first thing to wake her; she's pressed her face right into a pool of drool that had collected on her pillow. She hastily turned over and wiped her face, her cheeks were moist as well. It only took her a moment to realize it had not been drool that soaked her pillow, but tears. However, in her dreary state she'd already forgotten the dream she was having and couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation for why she'd been crying. She didn't feel fear, nor trauma or anything of the sort. In fact, she felt well rested and satisfied with her night's sleep. It must have been at least nine hours, which was three times the amount she usually got, "Nine hours," she sighed contentedly, blinking her eyes open. Finally it struck her, she'd fallen asleep very late in the night, or rather, early in the morning, how had she managed to sleep so long? Then, she cursed loudly as she struggled to roll out of the bed without the sheets wrapping around her feet. Of course, being as ungraceful and unlucky as she was, the sheets did just that. As she stepped out of bed, the sheets twisted around her ankles, causing her to lose her balance and fall face forward onto the floor.

With her face pressed against the scratchy rug, she laid on the floor, groaning and cursing under her breath. "Lucia…" she grumbled with her cheek on the carpet, "Get up, we're late." She pushed herself up and untangled her feet, then peeked over the side of the bed, "Lucia?"

Empty, the bed was entirely empty, and cold as well, as if no one had slept in it all night. _'Lucia must've left early,'_ thought Sumire, given the other girl had slept at all. Where had she gone? Did she get up and go to class without bothering to wake Sumire too? The girl didn't have time to think about it, in her peripheral vision she could see her alarm clock; it was half past 9, she'd already missed her first class and her second was just beginning. She scrambled to find her uniform, threw her books in her bag, and dashed off to the academic complex.

* * *

A simple mission, it should have been easy. It should have gone according to plan, the task carried out the way they had intended it. Quick and clean, that's the way Lucia had always done the missions the council sent her on; without hesitation or distraction, without question or regret. It was supposed to be an easy mission, how could it go so wrong?

Prior to the dangerous and unforeseen conditions of the task, and long before Sumire had stirred in her bed, Lucia had perched herself atop the wall and gazing over the grounds in front of her. The manor was certainly larger than she had imagined, surrounded by overgrown gardens and defended by decrepit statues. She checked her watch and looked at the sky, she didn't have much longer, the sun would be rising soon. At least it was cloudy, the overcast skies would provide some cover. She spotted multiple guards patrolling the grounds, wandering the gardens and standing on the manor's porch. '_So many guards...',_ she thought; she hadn't realized the significance of this mission, but apparently her target was an important one. She walked along the wall, and then jumped to a tree where she sat on a tree branch. Beneath her, two guards were talking; she considered knocking them out, but became absorbed in their conversation instead.

"He was found dead in his bathroom." Said one guard, a burly, gruff demon with tusks. He leaned against the tree, which creaked and shifted from his weight. "Died right in the shower, all exposed and whatnot." He made a disgusted grimace, "I'm not complaining, he wasn't much to look at and I was getting sick of seeing him all over the news all the time." Lucia knew exactly who the demon was talking about, a known activist had been found dead in his own home just a few days before.

"I heard it was an assassination," replied the other in a more hushed tone, "He'd been speaking out against the Council, feeding the rebellion.."

"Fuck the Council, it's a bunch of senile demons who think they know what's best for everyone else." Grumbled the first guard, apparently not caring who heard him, "Besides, I don't know any demon who'd risk seeing that guy naked, even if they were getting paid to off him."

"Yea, but there's a pattern, these guys start talking bad about the council and then they end up fired from their jobs, black listed, and then dead. It's a conspiracy. He's the third mysterious death this month." He paused and looked around, Lucia wondered if he sensed her presence. The burly guard laughed, probably thinking he was paranoid. Realizing this, the second guard shrugged as if he hadn't believed anything he had just said, "It's making the Professor pretty nervous though, he's doubled his guard since he heard he was going to be fired. I've been here every night; I'm exhausted." Said the second, looking at his watch and yawning. "Anyway, who would waste their time killing an old demon like Kimura?"

"Hey, let 'im be scared. I don't mind the extra work, puts food on the table." Stated the first. Lucia was getting impatient; however she didn't want to risk being detected and setting off any alarms before she made it to her target. If she were seen, not only would the mission fail but the delicate state of the Otherworld could fall into chaos between the rebels and the Council. She waited for the guards to begin patrolling again before she dropped into the garden below her. She crouched in some shrubs, thankful for the cloudy night's dark shroud over the manor that hid her from the guards. Under the cloak of the tree shadows and the cover of the gardens, she crept toward the manor. Obviously, she could not enter through a door, they were all blocked by a pair of guards anyway. All the windows on the first floor were barred shut as well, she would have to find another way in.

Finally, she spotted a window on the second floor, open just a crack. She climbed another tree and jumped onto the porch roof, then went toward the window. For a moment, she was thankful she'd left Sumire in the dorm even though she'd be advised to bring the human along. The weak girl would not have been able to climb the wall, nor the trees with much ease, and probably would've alerted the guards by accident. If anything, she certainly would've slowed Lucia down. She pressed herself against the wall next to the window, then peeked through. From what she could remember, her target normally slept on the second floor in the room right at the top of the staircase. She could see the paper door, and surprisingly, no guards lingered in the hallway. However, she saw a shadow through the door, pacing back and forth, meaning her target was not asleep as she'd hoped. She pushed the window open and climbed through, then crept down the hall toward the door. She pulled her gun out of it's holster, releasing the safety and putting her finger over the trigger. She readied herself, preparing to burst through the door and take down her target. The figure stopped pacing on the other side of the door and the light went out. The Sorceress froze, unable to see her target now that there was no light to create the shadow. Slowly, the paper door slid open to reveal a pair of bright red eyes gleaming in the dark room, from which a hoarse, raspy voice whispered, "Lucia, I've been waiting for you…"

Walking into class late was always embarrassing, everyone in the class glared at Sumire, including the teacher as he told her to take her seat. She glanced at the desk where she normally sat, only to discover the desk next to it was empty. Lucia wasn't in class, which was absolutely unlike her. Sumire tried not to worry, but she couldn't help it. As much as she disliked Lucia, they were still roommates and partners; she hoped the Sorceress was okay. To make matters worse, her usual professor was not there, and unfortunately for her, he was one of the only ones she actually liked. This substitute teacher was especially unhappy with her tardiness; his pasty white skin and sunken gray eyes only accentuated his displeasure. As she went to her seat, he scratched something down in his notebook before addressing the class again. "As I was saying, Professor Kimura will no longer be teaching your class, I will be filling in until a replacement can be found." He looked just as displeased with the situation as the students did, who dared not murmur about his statement as he looked them over, "Let us begin the lesson…"

Sumire bit her lip, what a wonderful way to start off a class with a new teacher, he probably already blacklisted her. She played with the mechanical part of her pen, clicking it repetitively until she realized how obnoxious she was being. She flipped through her notebook, ¾'s of it wasn't even in her own handwriting, but Lucia's. She sighed, without Lucia there to keep her on task, class dragged on for an eternity. However, it was walking in the hallways alone after class that Sumire dreaded. She could feel the hostility in the room, students were leering at her with malicious looks in their eyes. Even though sitting in the class was like torture, she almost didn't want it to end. She glanced out the window, the sky was cloudy and dark; it looked like a storm was coming, making her all the more miserable. She wondered if Lucia was out there, about to get caught in it. She looked at the empty desk again; without Lucia, there would be no one to deter the bullies. She cringed, what kind of punishment was she in for? Alas, the bell rang and the students began filtering out of the room. They were still eying her; Sumire knew they'd be waiting just outside the door.

Sumire sat, watching everyone leave while she slowly packed her things; she'd seriously begun to consider jumping out the window instead of going out into the hallway. The classroom was only two stories up, which was nothing compared to the fall she faced the night before; but the weather outside was getting worse. It had begun to rain and the wind gusted through the trees. She waited a few more minutes, hoping that the demons in the hall would grow impatient and leave, but she could hear them snickering. The teacher eyed her again, "You'll be late for your next class too if you don't leave…" he grumbled with annoyance. Sumire nodded sullenly, taking another quick and contemplative glance out the window, then turning to leave the room.

She stepped out the door, immediately walking into two demons that leaned against the wall next to it. One growled at her, the other smirked threateningly. Sumire backed away, into another demon who hissed as she bumped her. "What a nuisance!" she shrieked, "The Prince should put you on a leash!" she cried.

"Why has the Prince gone to left you alone and unprotected?" asked the smirking demon, stepping towards Sumire.

"I –I, don't know…" Sumire murmured as they'd begun to surround her. Sumire tried not to look terrified, but her trembling body didn't help. "But she will return soon! What do you want?"

"To make you cry, beg for mercy maybe." Said the demon, flashing her fangs. She stepped toward Sumire, who clutched her books close to her chest. She thought about making a witty response or perhaps a comment on the girl's bad breath, but knew that wouldn't help the situation. She certainly couldn't fight them off, and Lucia wasn't going to be showing up any time soon; she only had one clear option. Therefore, she ran, sprinted actually, down the hall and through groups of students, knocking books out of their hands, sending papers flying as she went. She dashed past the yelling teachers, hoping to lose her pursuers somewhere in the chaos she'd caused. If there was one thing she'd gotten good at since she had developed her sight, it was escaping demons. She dodged into the bathroom and hid.

One of the demons burst into the bathroom a second later, "She's gotta be in here." She said to her friend. Sumire could hear her kicking the stall doors open. Perhaps hiding in the bathroom wasn't the best idea. "Come on out, human… we just wanna be friends." She growled. She reached the last stall and Sumire held her breath. The demon kicked it open and the door banged loudly against the wall. Empty. The demon cursed loudly, damning Sumire and huffing with frustration. The was the sound of stomping echoed against the tiled walls, and then it was quiet. Sumire still didn't breath, for what seemed like forever she kept herself as still as possible as she hid in the cabinet under the sinks. For once she was happy she was smaller than most demons. Were they gone or just waiting for her to come out? The bell rang, Sumire was late again, but she feared that they were still in the bathroom. She wished Lucia would arrive and save her as she often did, but then remembered that it was Lucia's fault she was in the situation in the first place. She swore and hugged her knees. She waited another five minutes or so. Finally, because the smell of cleaning products was making her dizzy, she decided she had to climb out of her hiding place. Just as she put her hand on the cabinet door it swung open. Sumire cringed, readying herself to be dragged out.

"Are you planning to hide forever in there?" said a voice Sumire couldn't recognize. The girl knelt down, gazing at her with large pink eyes. She half-smiled at Sumire and put out her hand; an oddly familiar gesture.

"You, you helped me yesterday, didn't you?" Sumire said, slowly taking her hand and crawling out of the cabinet. The girl nodded. Sumire stood and brushed herself off, then got a better look at the girl. She noticed now that the other girl was shorter, her skin was also pale, but not pasty like the new teachers was. Similar to the day before, her brown hair was still tied up, but this time in two pigtails, and with her big bright pink eyes, she looked extraordinarily adorable, chibi almost. Sumire felt compelled to hug her tightly and never let got, or to shower her with cute stuffed animals and dozens of colorful, sweet candies.

The girl blinked, "You're kind of making me uncomfortable, staring at me like that."

"I'm sorry!" Sumire exclaimed, "You don't look like any of the other demons I've …encountered." She didn't want to admit that she thought the girl was one of the cutest things she'd ever seen, she didn't want to make the endearing girl any more uncomfortable, though she was curious if she got even cuter when she blushed.

"That's cause I'm not a typical demon, I'm a Kyū- Uh, let's just say I'm just not like the others." The girl replied, Sumire didn't know what that meant, but she felt like it would be rude to ask. "My name is Shimizu Kari, and you are Takahana Sumire."

Sumire nodded, then felt a little uneasy, "How do you know my name?"

Kari laughed, "I'm in your Hexing class, but you're always asleep so it's no wonder you don't know me."

"I'm sorry." Sumire said again, blushing.

"You get yourself into a lot of trouble don't you?" Kari asked, peeling a piece of toilet paper off Sumire's skirt.

Sumire sighed, "Not intentionally. It's mostly because of Lucia."

"Oh, the Dark Prince." Kari replied.

"You're not one of her fans too, are you?!" Sumire exclaimed, suddenly feeling like she could be in the presence of some enemy.

"No, not so much as the other girls anyway. I do find her interesting though, I like to observe her." Kari said.

'_Great,'_ thought Sumire, '_A stalker…' _Sumire glanced over the chibi girl again; she didn't look like the type, but at the Demon academy looks were always decieving. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, from what I can tell, she's a great actress. The only time she reveals her true self is with you, and even then it's rare." Kari laughed, "I find it funny that all those girls are in love with her façade, this 'Prince' they've made her. If they really loved her, they'd know she's not really like that."

"Yea, I suppose." Replied Sumire, not really wanting to talk about Lucia anymore and remembering that she was supposed to be in class but she had found herself unable to leave the conversation."She seems all charming n' stuff, but she's hardly a 'prince'. She's more like a tyrant or something."

"You don't like her much, do you?" Kari realized, "Why?"

"You watch her don't you?" Sumire said, "You should be able to see why."

Kari shrugged, "It always looks to me like she's just playing. Anyway, let's not talk about Lucia anymore. Like I said, I'm not one of her raving fans."

Sumire almost exclaimed, "But you brought her up!" but realized that she'd brought up Lucia on her own. She frowned, then decided to say something else. "You're the first I've met." Sumire said, referring to Kari not being a fan and thinking, '_Well, besides Alice…'_ She decided not to add that because no one was supposed to know about Alice yet and she didn't feel like explaining something she barely understood herself. "Anyway, I'm extremely late for class, aren't you?"

"Study hall. I was gonna go get some late breakfast." Kari replied, glancing at her watch, "You've already missed like 10 minutes, why don't you just skip and join me?" Sumire looked unsure; Kari smiled and added, "Besides, you'll probably end up in here again if those students see you're still without Lucia."

Sumire knew that she was right, so she accepted the offer. The two girls went to the nearly empty cafeteria, which was still serving some lukewarm greenish-tinted scrambled eggs and stale toast. The girls decided it wasn't worth the risk and Sumire purchased Snack bread instead. She offered some to Kari, who declined because she said the bread wasn't nutritious. Instead, she pulled a black sport's bottle from her bag and drank from that. "Protein shake, lots of vitamins, iron n' stuff." She said with a wink.

Sumire had never skipped a class before, she knew Lucia wouldn't approve and perhaps that was why she enjoyed it so much. Though the company certainly had something to do with it; Kari was strange, but funny and kind. They seemed to hit it off right away and had similar tastes in many things, apparently Kari had spent some time in the Human World. Sumire felt peculiarly disappointed when the next bell rang, like there hadn't been enough time for them to talk. They swapped numbers and talked about hanging out again later in the week. Kari suggested studying for midterms together but Sumire's expression forced her to add, "Or we can watch a movie." A proposal Sumire accepted gratefully. Kari promised she would walk with Sumire to her next class, but couldn't guarantee she'd be able to protect the human girl. Apprehensively, they made their way into the hall.

The two girls stepped into the corridor cautiously, but much to their surprise, no one was brooding over them. Sumire breathed a sigh of relief while Kari observed the commotion down the hall. Students brushed past her, heading towards some spectacle at the end of the corridor and speaking in high, excited tones. As if some celebrity had suddenly appeared, students flocked to surround the figure, who Sumire couldn't quite make out from such a distance.

Finally, her eyes fixed on the magnificent creature, gleaming as she moved through the hall. No one dared to touch her, instead they swarmed around her, surrounding her path and swooning as she walked by.

"She's stunning…" murmured Kari, also mesmerized by the demon.

"Yea," mouthed Sumire, staring at the creature, "Her name is Alice…"

"You know her?" Kari exclaimed, trying not to join in the schoolgirl squealing.

"Met her last night. Lucia and I are actually her protectors." Sumire said, glancing around and hoping no one was listening, "She's really nice."

"_Nice_…that isn't exactly the word I was thinking…" Kari replied, obviously checking the new student out with a smirk. Alice spotted Sumire from where she stood and grinned.

"Sumire!" She called, gliding right through a group of fans as if they weren't there at all.

"Alice," Sumire said, staggered by her presence, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you of course. I was really hoping I'd find you, so much so that I asked Lola what your schedule was, but I was feeling rather doubtful when I went to your class and discovered you weren't in attendance. And yet, here you are!" She took Sumire's hand and kissed it lightly, a strange greeting but Sumire didn't mind. "It seems the gods favor me today." Sumire blushed and laughed lightly.

"Lucia isn't going to be happy about this," Murmured Sumire, taking her hand back hesitantly, "Especially when she finds out you were walking around without an escort. You aren't supposed to be in classes until next week."

"Actually, I'm starting tomorrow, just in time for the festival." Alice replied, still smiling.

"Festival?" Sumire asked.

"The Sport and Spells Festival.." Kari whispered, "It's tomorrow, when all the boys from the South Institute come to Venus Academy and compete." Sumire nodded, remembering Lucia telling her about the event and cringing when she thought of having to compete.

"Anyway, I was hoping you'd give me a tour. I'd like to get to know the school a little bit, and I've been wandering blindly all morning, I could use a guide." Alice replied with a dazzling smile, she didn't seem to notice Kari, who had begun to drool. "What do you say? As you said, I should have an escort."

"…I can't miss anymore classes, and I still don't even know the Academy that well." Sumire answered, though part of her really wanted to skip the rest of the day so she could better get to know Alice. She peeked over at Kari who looked eager to lend a hand, "…Maybe my friend could-"

"Oh no, I only want you." Alice quickly said, "No offense to your adorable friend." She smiled at Kari, who swooned. In fact, an entire group of girls had surrounded them, all of them began to sigh and collapse, even Sumire felt a little light headed.

"Well maybe I-" began Sumire, but suddenly the excitement around them picked up again, someone else was coming.

The Sorceress looked a bit surprised when she saw Sumire with Alice and Kari, "Sumire, why weren't you in class?"

Sumire didn't know whether to feel relieved that Lucia was ok or ashamed for skipping, "I- I…"

Lucia leered at Alice, "Did you have something to do with this? You aren't supposed to be in the Academic building yet."

"I'm an air elemental, I needed to get out of that stuffy room." Alice replied, "And why does it matter to you what Sumire does?"

"She's my responsibility!" Lucia growled in response. '_Responsibility'_, for some reason that word cut Sumire more than it should have, but Sumire recalled what she had said to Lucia the night before and felt hypocritical for being hurt. The tension between Alice and Lucia caused an ominous atmosphere to fill the corridor. Kari watched all three girls and understood the situation immediately, as only an uninvolved spectator could. Abruptly, she laughed and shattered the aura of hostility.

Everyone looked at her, wondering the reason for the sudden outburst. She grinned and shook her head, "I was tutoring Sumire, that's why she wasn't in class. She was getting a special lesson from me." Kari lied, winking at her friend. Lucia glanced down at the chibi girl, as if she hadn't even see her there before, which was probable.

Lucia raised an eyebrow at Kari, "And you are?"

"Just a friend." replied Kari, "I'll see you in Hexing, Sumire!" And with that, she disappeared into the crowd. Once again, Sumire couldn't find her amongst the students. She decided it was because of her height that she was just able to vanish so easily between taller girls.

Paying no attention to Alice, nor the giddy onlookers, Lucia stepped closer to Sumire, closing the new student out of their conversation. "Since when do you have friends?" Lucia said, not meaning it to sound as cruel as it did. Sumire forgot her sadness and leered at Lucia irately, "I mean, I'm just not used to seeing you talk to students who don't want to kill you."

"Where were you this morning?" Sumire demanded, sounding quite like an angry housewife.

"A mission," Lucia said nonchalantly, "I told you about it last night. It took… longer than it should have."

"Oh… right." Sumire murmured, feeling stupid for being worried and confused earlier, "So then, is everything taken care of?"

Lucia frowned and shook her head, "I can't talk about it now." She looked at Sumire who wondered what had gone wrong, "…but I need to go to the Council tonight." Lucia shivered slightly, and although the Council was intimidating, that wasn't the cause of her trembling. Her lips quivered too, against her slightly chattering teeth.

"Oh my gods, Lucia! Your clothing is soaked!" Sumire exclaimed, amazed that she hadn't realized before. "Why haven't you gone back to the dorms to change?"

Lucia hesitated, she looked a little uncomfortable as she spoke, "…I..uh," She mumbled something unintelligible.

"What?" Sumire questioned, "I couldn't understand you."

"…I didn't want you to be alone." She replied quietly, "I was worried about you." Again, Sumire thought that she saw Lucia blushing, but the Sorceress turned her face away before the younger girl could be sure.

"Why?" Sumire asked, confused by the statement and slightly taken aback. She felt a twinge of pain in her chest, why did she feel guilty? Before she could respond, Alice interrupted, annoyed that she'd been ignored for so long.

"So how about that tour?" Alice asked, forcing herself between Sumire and Lucia.

Lucia looked at Alice as if she'd forgotten her completely, as well as all the other girls that were surrounding them, "Miss Fugihara, why are you still here?" Lucia said sternly, "Go back to your room."

"That's too boring, I can't stay in a room all day. I wanted to speak with my lovely Sumire again." Replied the elemental, touching Sumire's face. "I just realized I haven't even asked how you are today… how rude of me."

Sumire blushed furiously, "It's ok, I'm f-fine…"

"Only fine? Oh that will not do." Said Alice, bringing her face towards Sumire's, "Tell me, what can I do to change that?" Again, the girls that had gathered around them squealed excitedly.

"All of you should get to class already, stop standing around and move it." demanded Lucia. The girls sadly disbanded as Lucia returned her attention to Alice, "And you, you need to get back to your room, you're causing a disturbance."

"I refuse." Alice stated simply as she glanced over Lucia, "What happened to you anyway? You look like a drowned rat."

Lucia gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, "Enough, get out of here! I'm not afraid to use force."

Alice smirked, "I feel as if your Uncle would not be happy with that, and nor would my grandfather."

"Grandfather?" Sumire asked.

"Her Grandfather is the head of the council.." grumbled Lucia, "Never mind that, c'mon Sumire, we need to get to class." Lucia pulled Sumire away from Alice. She glared at Alice, "I'll deal with you later."

"Wait Sumire, I don't know my way around this building." Alice quickly rebuffed, "You must give me a tour! I'm sure one or two missed classes won't matter…"

"They do if you're Sumire." Retorted Lucia, "Come on, we're late!" She grabbed Sumire's arm and began to pull her away.

Alice seized the other arm, "I'm sure you can catch up, you don't want me wandering around and getting lost by myself, do you? The Dean did order you to watch over me."

"You'll only get more lost with Sumire as a guide." Lucia replied, "You're better off on your own."

"I never said I'd mind getting lost with Sumire."Alice argued. Both girls held Sumire's arms in their grasp, pulling her like it was a tug-of-war. The young girl was helpless.

"Please, if you'd just let go we can discuss this." Sumire whispered. Lucia looked at Sumire, finally noticing how tightly she was grasping the younger girl's arm. She let go and apologized softly, Alice used the opportunity to pull Sumire closer to her.

"That settles it," she cheered, "Sumire, you will by my escort today." Sumire stumbled awkwardly into Alice, blushing as the girl put her arm around her shoulder. Sumire didn't need to say anything, Lucia saw the pinkness in her cheeks and turned away quickly, looking quite like she'd been betrayed.

"Fine then… Do whatever you want. I don't care." Lucia said, walking away. Sumire watched her go, but Alice, who stepped into her line of sight, stole her attention.

"Alright, where shall we go first? Are there any secret rooms where students go to be alone?" Alice asked eagerly, "A music room maybe?"

Sumire wasn't really listening, and even if she had been she still wouldn't have known what Alice was inferring. "We should start with things that matter, do you know your schedule yet? I can show you your homeroom." She felt badly and couldn't focus on Alice. Despite the Elemental's entrancing beauty, her long golden hair and deep silver-blue eyes, she couldn't stop thinking about Lucia. The Sorceress had come to school soaking wet just to check on her, and Sumire had acted so stupidly.

Alice smiled, "I don't yet, how about the library? That should be quiet." Sumire nodded unconsciously as Alice noticed something, "Hey, what is that on your sleeve?"

"What? Probably just water…" Sumire looked down at her sleeve, she'd thought it was wet merely because Lucia was still dripping when she grabbed it, however her once white blouse was stained red. Sumire almost cried out as she realized what it was, _'Blood…' _Her stomach knotted, she'd never been able to handle blood well, that's why she didn't want to work on the spells the night before; but now was not the time to faint as she normally would when she saw such large amounts. Not only had Lucia been soaking wet, but the Sorceress was injured as well. Sumire quickly apologized to Alice, "I'm sorry, I have to go!" She said as she turned and darted down the hall in the direction Lucia went.

Alice stood, alone and dejected. However, a moment later several demons were at her side, prepared to do more than take the elemental on the tour. She grinned enchantingly, "Oh well," she murmured, "It's be a waste to turn such lovely girls as you away. I'll catch up with her later."

She was hurt, Lucia had been injured and she still went to school to find Sumire. Sumire sprinted through the hallway and leapt down the steps of the entrance to the Academy. It was probably faster than she'd ever run before. How bad was Lucia injured, what if she'd collapsed? Sumire's mind reeled as she ran through the rain. Lucia was taking off her shirt just as Sumire burst through the door. The first thing Sumire saw was the large purple bruise that covered half the other girl's back. "Lucia, are you ok?!" she cried.

The Sorceress looked confused as she quickly pulled her shirt back down to cover herself, "Yea, I'm fine. Just cold, why?"

"But you're bleeding!" Sumire exclaimed, pointing to the blood Lucia left on her sleeve. Lucia looked at her hand and then at Sumire's blouse, her expression changed.

"Sumire, take off your shirt..." She said to girl. There was a moment of silence where the younger girl just stared at Lucia with a dazed expression, "I'm not joking, take it off right now."

Sumire didn't move, "What?!" she exclaimed. Lucia moved forward and began to unbutton Sumire's dampened shirt on her own. "What are you doing?!" Sumire shouted, blushing and pushing Lucia away.

Lucia looked as if she didn't want to say something, but she had to. She showed Sumire her hand; there was no cut, no w**o**und at all. "That's not my blood."

Sumire tore off the shirt before Lucia could blink. She threw the soggy thing to the ground and rubbed her arm rapidly; trying to get any remaining blood off it, "Ok, it's off…" Her lip started to quiver, looking at the stained white shirt made her stomach lurch again.

At first Lucia was distracted by the seemingly weak girl's surprisingly muscular physique. Sumire would never allow herself to change in front of Lucia, she was apparently uncomfortable with her body. Lucia didn't know why, Sumire's figure was perfect.

"There might be blood on your skirt too…" Lucia murmured, gazing at Sumire's body absentmindedly. Sumire didn't respond, she was trying to get the blood that soaked through her shirt off her arm. She was beginning to hyperventilate, "Calm down! You're going to tear your skin off."

Sumire pushed Lucia away again, "Don't touch me! It's on you too. It's everywhere." Her face had gone pale, she looked like she was going to cry or get sick. "I hate blood, I hate it." She fell to her knees, still clawing at her own arm.

Lucia grabbed her, "Sumire, it's just blood! Stop, you'll hurt yourself!" The younger girl was shaking, cowering in Lucia's arms. The Sorceress sighed as she studied the quivering girl. She picked Sumire up carefully and carried her in her arms into the bathroom. She gently set the trembling girl on the counter. Tenderly, she took Sumire's hand in her own and with a warm, damp cloth, she cleaned off the blood. Sumire slowly regained control of herself and looked at Lucia. She seemed almost motherly… no, that wasn't the word for it. Lucia was not looking at her, but focusing on cleaning Sumire's arm entirely. Sumire wasn't aware of Lucia's struggle, being so close to the innocent half-dressed human girl would be difficult for even the kindest demon. She tried to keep her attention on the blood rather than Sumire's soft, bare skin. "There…" she murmured, looking up at Sumire with a slight smile, "All clean."

Sumire took her arm back, "Thank you," She whispered, "I'm sorry for freaking out… I've never been very good with blood."

"No problem…" Lucia said, stepping away from Sumire. She threw the cloth in the garbage and looked at the mirror, then Sumire. "Are you alright now?" She was looking directly into Sumire's eyes, as if she wouldn't allow herself to look anywhere else.

"Yea…" Sumire replied.

Lucia stepped closer, putting her hand on the counter beside Sumire. "Are you sure?" Sumire nodded. They were both awkwardly silent, Sumire saw another bruise on the side of Lucia's neck, and a small gash on her chin.

"Lucia…what happened on your mission?" Sumire questioned, staring at the bruise. She reached forward and touched Lucia's cheek lightly, the Sorceress didn't flinch. She barely moved at all, it was like Sumire was touching a statue. Lucia had gone silent and still, she kept her gaze fixed on Sumire's face, looking directly at her but not looking at her at all, not taking anything in. Slowly, Lucia's cheeks flushed under her porcelain skin, "Lucia?" Then Sumire felt a cold chill roll down her spine, a breeze swept in from the other room. Sumire shivered, suddenly realizing she wasn't wearing a shirt. She gasped and hastily covered herself up with her hands. The Sorceress still hadn't moved much, but she was slowly leaning closer to Sumire, her eye looked almost misted over, "..L-Lucia?"

The Sorceress blinked, only an inch or so away from Sumire's face. Sumire had moved her head back and was looking at Lucia with an awkward expression, now shivering from the cold rain. The Sorceress immediately reached and grabbed a towel that she drapped over Sumire. "..There."

Sumire wrapped the towel around herself, "Thank you…" she whispered, "I should probably put dry clothing on."

"Yea…" Lucia mouthed with her back to Sumire. The younger girl quickly walked out of the room. Lucia stood alone in the bathroom, her hand clenched into a fist, "too close.." she growled. She couldn't let Sumire's purity tempt her, she looked in the mirror with disgust; after all, she wasn't what she had led Sumire to believe she was. She proceeded to wash the now dried blood off her own skin and take a shower, then went into the bedroom. Sumire was sitting on the edge of her bed, wearing a shirt again as Lucia had expected. She stared up at the Sorceress.

"…So, if you were not wounded, whose blood was it?" Sumire asked solemnly, Lucia hadn't anticipated that the human girl would be so direct and had not prepared herself accordingly. She was quiet as she changed into a new outfit, using the time to think of the right thing to say. Sumire wasn't looking at her as she dressed, however she noticed Lucia's unease and was well aware the she would try to avoid answering, so the younger girl pressed further, "What have you been doing on these missions Lucia?"

"What I am ordered to do." Lucia replied solemnly.

"Care to elaborate?" Sumire asked.

"Not particularly." Lucia said simply, "You should go back to the Academy and finish your classes for the day." Lucia stepped toward the other girl, picking up one of Sumire's textbooks and handing it to her.

Sumire groaned, "Alright, fine." She grudgingly went to her dresser and got out a dry uniform. Before she went to the bathroom to change, she turned to Lucia with a somewhat saddened expression, "Just… be careful ok?" Lucia half-smiled and nodded. Sumire went into the bathroom, leaving the Sorceress to collect her thoughts.

'_She deserves to know something…'_ Lucia pondered, changing her own clothing, _'But I just… don't think she's ready yet.'_ She glanced at the locked bathroom door and sighed again, _'Besides, she's a human, she has no reason to be wrapped up in Otherworld politics. I still don't even know why my uncle brought her here.' _She looked at her own reflection in the mirror, '_This is my burden to bear, alone.'_

_

* * *

_

Oh Lucia, being all kind and tender during Sumire's freak out, and then trying not to lose control of herself and take advantage of the half dressed girl. It's pretty tough, I feel her pain.

The next chapter is the Sports festival, lots of flirtation and jealousy... you know, my favorite stuff to write about. :]

I absolutely promise that it won't take nearly as long for me to post a chapter for this story ever again. I sincerely apologize.

Oh By the way, Meg! (Bernkastel) I still haven't been able to see the pics cause I don't have the actual link to the website, the one you gave me doesn't go to any site. Lol. We're so close to solving this puzzle! You're amazing, btw. :)

Mk. I'm late for work. Review please&thanks!

EDIT* I was reading through the second half of this chapter (it's 5:25AM, why am I awake?) and I realized there was a sentence in the middle of one of my paragraphs that I simply didn't finish. I had probably edited it at some point and got distracted as I often do. Forgive me my errors and typos, please remember that the only time I ever have to write these pieces is between 12AM-4AM (and tonight 5AM) So I often find myself falling asleep as I'm writing and I can't find all my own errors because I read the chapters so many times I start to unintentionally scan them rather than read. Typos can be overlooked. Sorry for my unprofessionalism. (is that even a word? Psh.. it is now, Shakespeare created his own words too you know.. Like "Assassin"! And I don't know about you, but I'm quite happy he created that word cause I love it. And No, I'm not comparing myself to Shakespeare.)


	5. Chapter 4: Sports Festival

Ok, so I decided to put the next to chapters together and make one giant one and make it your Christmas Present!

So Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays! I hope you and yours have a joyous new year!

Stayed up till 4AM this morning to get it finished for today, so I'm sorry for typos n' whatnot. Read&Review!

* * *

The next day, Sumire and Lucia woke up early for the festival. Sumire was hardly excited about the whole thing, but was curious to see the Demon boys, which she hadn't heard that much about. She always felt strange in her gym uniform, the red bottoms were too short and she felt that they fit her hips awkwardly and that the pale gray t-shirt was two sizes too big. Lucia wasn't wearing the typical uniform, though her dark purple bottoms were pretty short as well, they fit her perfectly and allowed her to show off her long, slender legs. Instead of the gray T, she wore a form fitting black tank top. She tied her hair back into a single ponytail, which Sumire was not used to seeing, but liked. As they walked out into the cool morning air, underneath yet another cloudy sky, dozens of fan girls with dark purple flags and bandanas greeted Lucia, chanting and cheering for the 'Dark Prince'. Lucia waved politely as she walked, but acted no different than she would on any other school day. Sumire walked close behind and frowned nervously as they made their way to the Sports Complex, which was in the middle of the North Academy and the South Institute. The fans followed excitedly, making Sumire all the more unenthusiastic.

Lucia and Sumire sat next to each other in the empty section of bleachers on the north end of the stadium, watching the Athletes stretch and prepare themselves for competition. "Aren't you going to stretch or anything?" Sumire asked.

"I will, but if I do now, all the girls will flock around me and it will be too distracting." Lucia replied, lounging against the bleacher behind her. Sumire couldn't disagree with her, they were already standing around waiting. Sumire sheepishly moved closer to Lucia as she realized that they were glaring at her. "So, do you intend to avoid competing? You're not very athletic, are you?"

"I don't want to compete, but I will do my best!" Sumire declared, puffing her cheeks out and making a determined expression. Lucia chuckled softly and Sumire glared at her, "What's so funny?"

Lucia smiled at the younger girl, "Nothing," Lucia laughed, "you looked really cute just now s'all." Sumire's cheeks turned pink.

"Hey Sumire!" called a voice from the entrance to the stadium. Kari ran up in her gym uniform, her hair tied in pigtails and her pink eyes shining. "Aren't you excited? I love this event!"

"Not really…" replied Sumire. Kari frowned, she was obviously very excited.

"Hello, Sumire's friend, pleased to see you again." Lucia said with a grin, "Kari, is it?"

"Yes, hello Miss Lucia," to Sumire's surprise, Kari didn't blush or swoon like most girls did when the Sorceress greeted them by name. "I'm excited to see you compete with the White Prince!"

"Who?" Sumire asked, "I thought Lucia was the only prince."

"Lucia is the Dark Prince, but Alice is getting more popular by the hour, she's already got an entire fan club calling her the White Prince."

"How original..." Lucia sighed, rolling her eye. She never cared much for her title anyway.

"I thought we were competing against the South Institute boys." Sumire mentioned, endearingly confused as usual.

"The boys aren't all that intimidating, it always ends up as more of a competition between the different athletes in our school." Kari said. "Do you think the boys will put up more of a fight than last year?"

"Doubtful." Replied Lucia with a sly grin.

"Haha, I thought not. I'll catch up with you guys later!" And with that, Kari ran off with another crowd of demon girls, warming up for a race.

Sumire watched them practicing, "So what's the point of this festival anyway?"

"The best Athletes and the best spell-casters compete in different events and the school with the most victories wins." Lucia replied matter-of-factly.

"Do I have to do anything? Are we graded?" Sumire asked.

"Sort of, it depends on what they call you to compete in; everyone has to participate in at least one event." Lucia answered, still resting against the bleachers.

"I hope they just make me run in a relay or something, I am pretty fast." Sumire said, absentmindedly leaning against the bleacher as well, nudging nearer to Lucia. Lucia flinched as Sumire's hair brushed against her shoulder.

"You are pretty quick…" Lucia admitted, "but I don't know if you could beat me in a race."

"Oh yea?" Sumire challenged, "Wanna make a bet on it?"

"Do you really think you could win?" Lucia laughed, "I mean, honestly Sumire."

"Yes, I do!" Sumire declared, "You just wait and see."

"Ok, ok. What are the conditions of this bet?" Lucia inquired, nonchalantly putting her arm behind Sumire's head.

"If I win, you have to do my homework and my class chores for the rest of the semester."

"Fair enough, what do I get _when_ I win." Lucia asked.

"Uhmm.. _if _you win… I'll do your homework?" Sumire suggested.

Lucia burst out laughing, "No thank you, I don't want to fail anytime soon."

"Fine, you think of something." Groaned Sumire.

"Hmmmm..anything I want?" Lucia asked, grinning at Sumire. She put her hand on the other girls face.

The younger girl flinched, "Within reason, it's not like I can give you my soul or anything."

Lucia's hand moved to Sumire's sternum, she gently pushed the girl, forcing her backwards so she was laying against the bench, "I don't want your soul…" Lucia whispered as she crouched over her.

"Lucia?" Sumire murmured.

"But maybe I'll take your body." Lucia continued. Sumire's eyes widened and her face turned as red as her shorts. The Sorceress smirked again.

"Ah, what do we have here?" asked a voice from the crowd full of girls with white flags and cheering. Alice emerged dressed in an all white tennis uniform, quite befitting of the new title. "Sumire!... and the other girl… Hello."

Lucia suddenly sat up, pulling Sumire up with her, "Alice…" she grumbled.

"Miss Fugihara, to you, Sorceress." Alice corrected, stepping up the bleachers gracefully. Lucia sat against the bench behind her once more, but didn't let go of Sumire. She put her arm around the younger girls shoulder.

"Hello Alice!" exclaimed Sumire breathlessly; her head was still spinning from Lucia's proposition. She was joking right? She almost got up to greet Alice, but Lucia was holding her close, almost pulling the younger girl into her lap.

"Are you participating?" Lucia asked, putting her hand on Sumire's knee possessively.

"Yes, I am." Alice replied challengingly, "And you?"

"Yes." Replied Lucia, her hand moving up Sumire's leg and caressing her inner thigh. The girl's body trembled slightly at Lucia's touch and her face was bright red again. Lucia's hand remained on Sumire's thigh, just a few inches below the hem of her shorts and a more tender area. Sumire bit her lip, unsure of whether she should ask Lucia to move her hand. What had gotten into the Sorceress today?

Alice frowned as she looked at Lucia's hand, "I see you've got your hands full, but… I've heard some interesting stories of your athleticism. I wanted to tell you to take today's events seriously."

"Oh really?" the Sorceress said with a smile, "Is that a challenge?"

Alice smirked, "We'll see, it depends on if you're really as talented as they say you are."

"Oh, I certainly am." Lucia replied.

"Pity, because I'm_ more_ talented than that." Alice claimed proudly. She glanced at Sumire, "I'll certainly win if you're cheering for me, Sumire."

"Of course I will," Sumire replied, "I'll cheer for you, and Lucia, and Kari." Lucia shook her head; Sumire was as dense as ever.

"I promise, I'll give you every reason to cheer for me over her." Alice announced, "I could give you a million reasons to yell out my name, if you'd let me." Sumire was once again too innocent to recognize the true context of Alice's statement; but Lucia got the message.

"Do your best!" Sumire exclaimed, "I know you can win!"

Alice grinned in response, "You're even cuter when you cheer. Because I will win today, would you like to go with me to the celebration tomorrow night? There's a bonfire and a big dance in honor of today's victors, it would be my pleasure to take you. And I'm positive I could supply you with some _pleasures _as well if you agree." Sumire didn't know what to say, of course she wanted to go with Alice, but that was the sort of thing couples did. She smiled stupidly because she could not find the words to reply. "I'll take that as a yes. All my victories today will be in your name, my princess."

Sumire blushed slightly, she'd never been called a princess before, but she had certainly pretended to be one as a child as most young girls do. Initially, the word had brought a strange image into her mind, one of herself a giant pink dress and overly ornate tiara. She knew that wasn't at all what Alice meant, but she was embarrassed by such a childish thought and could never actually see herself wearing such a ridiculous outfit. Suddenly, and most unexpectedly, she pictured Lucia in the frilly pink dress and burst out laughing. Covering her mouth and trying to contain her mirth, she considered changing the terms of the bet and making Lucia wear such an outfit if she won. As they watched her laughing, neither Alice nor Lucia knew what was going on in the human girls head, which was probably for the best.

Lucia smiled calmly, "Alright then, good luck." She stood and put her hand out towards Alice. Both Sumire and Alice were surprised by the seemingly noble act. Alice stared at Lucia's hand uneasily, but being brought up in a noble family, she couldn't deny the gesture. As she reached forward, Lucia clasped her hand tightly, squeezing it so her bones pinched together. She leaned forward and whispered into Alice's ear, "Make one more perverse comment to _my_ Sumire and I'll tear you limb from limb."

Alice's hand throbbed, but she gripped Lucia's with just as much strength, "_Your _Sumire?" she chuckled, "Do you intend to make her moan your name instead of mine?" Lucia's ears turned red, "We'll see about that." She pulled her hand away, suddenly acting courteous again, "I will meet you on the field."

Lucia watched her walk away; she clenched her teeth together bitterly as she sat down again. Sumire, having missed the entire exchange between them, smiled sweetly. "You two would make a good team; you shouldn't compete against each other today."

Lucia tried not to roll her eye, "Sumire… how did you survive this long and remain so simple?"

"What do you mean, simple?" replied Sumire, insulted. "I think you guys should team up, you'd be unstoppable!"

Lucia sighed, "We can't team up if we both want the same prize for ourselves." She felt badly comparing Sumire to a prize, but that was what she'd become over the course of the conversation. "Permit me to be selfish, just this once."

Sumire had wrongly assumed Lucia meant a trophy of some sort, simply because she knew nothing about the Festival and would have no idea that they didn't get trophies, and because she was hopelessly dense. So she shrugged, "You don't really need my permission; besides I don't think you're selfish, you just want to win."

"The boys are here!" someone exclaimed from the stadium floor. Sumire could see the commotion on the south end of the stadium, she tried not to look too excited, but this would be the first time she saw an actual boy, a demon boy but a boy nonetheless, since she'd attended the Academy. However, to her own surprise, she didn't miss them all that much. She stood up, Lucia groaned and remained lounging against the bleachers.

Finally, she saw them; horns, fangs, claws, talons, and muscles, oh the muscles. A small hoard of five male demons had entered the stadium, but it wasn't what Sumire expected. Despite their demon attributes, each one seemed to get more attractive than the other. Yet, the thing that threw Sumire most was that none of them looked like boys, but rather, men, probably all middle-aged and older. She marveled at the demons, "They look a little… Mature to be high school students. Are they third years?" She whispered.

"That's because those are adults," Lucia murmured, "Those are the prefects, teachers, and scholars that make up the male half of the Council." The Sorceress was still leaning against the bleachers, but she'd crossed her arms and no longer looked as relaxed as she had before. Her whole body looked stiff, even her mouth tensed as she watched them.

Sumire felt rather silly for thinking that those older men could have been students, but she didn't have time to respond. Kari walked up to them with a smile, "This competition is going to be _easy_."

"Why do you say that?" Sumire asked, but Kari didn't need to answer. At last, the boys were beginning to file into the stadium. Sumire immediately understood Kari's statement as she saw them, "….those have got to be…middleschoolers.. right?" Most of them were were scrawny, pasty, gangly things, with visually greasy hair, skinny arms, and knobby knees.

"Those are the students of the Southern Institute." Lucia replied with a slight smile.

"Demon girls mature much faster than demon boys." Added Kari, "Much much faster."

"But…they all look like… nerds." Sumire replied, she tried to find at least one boy she found appealing. There were a few that looked like moderately good candidates, but Sumire just couldn't let herself be attracted to any of them. Even the few handsome boys of the bunch were still just average in Sumire's eyes, she wondered if she'd spent too much time surround by inhumanly gorgeous girls, seduction through beauty was a common trait among Demon women after all.

"That's because the Southern Institute is a highly prestigious school, the student body is based entirely on grades and intelligence alone, not even money can buy a boy in… which is also why their campus isn't quite as nice as ours. These are the smartest boys in the Otherworld." Lucia said, Sumire wondered why should couldn't even find that attractive.

Kari laughed and winked at Sumire, "Now you see why some of the girls here prefer the company of other girls."

"I never really questioned it anyway, but it sort of makes sense now." Sumire replied, somewhat disappointed by the sad assortment of boys in front of her. "…At least we'll win."

"I wouldn't say that just yet." Lucia interjected, standing up again. "They don't look like much, but those are some of the best spellcasters you will ever come across. We've got them beat in athletics, but few of us can surpass them in magic."

"You can, Miss Lucia," Kari said, "none of them come close to your skill."

Lucia smiled, "That may be true, we'll have to wait and see."

The opening ceremonies began and the students were call to the center of the stadium. Five stunning female demons, who Sumire recognized as some of the scholars and professors she'd seen in the halls of the Academy, joined the male council members. The dean entered shortly after, followed by Lola. Unlike the members of the Council, Sōichirō looked quite happy to be attending the festival. He waved and greeted the students. The ceremonies were led by the eldest demon on the Council, a handsome old gentleman with silver hair and a neat goatee. Even from where she stood, in the far right of the group, Sumire could see his glistening silver-blue eyes. "He looks familiar." She murmured.

"That's Alice's grandfather… he's the chairman of the Council." The Sorceress said, all of the sudden seeming uninvolved in the event. The students didn't respond well to his cold voice and none of them looked interested in the things he was saying. Luckily, after he finished, Sōichirō took the podium and his compassionate, gentle yet lively voice inspired the students again.

"Without further ado, let the games begin!" Sōichirō announced, followed by the cheering of the students, which consisted of mostly female voices. The boys sluggishly retreated to the South side of the stadium as the girls cheered. Lucia told Sumire and Kari that she had to stretch and that she'd find them later.

"The first events are club oriented." Kari said, "You're not in any clubs are you?"

Sumire shook her head,"No, I got excused because… Lucia and I have other extra-curricular activities."

"Oh, right. Those mission things you mentioned, yeah?" Kari replied.

"Shhh!" exclaimed Sumire, "I wasn't even sposed to tell you about those."

"Alright, alright. Sorry!" Kari quickly said, "Anyway, there's a kendo match, a dive competition, a spell caster contest, a basketball game and a tennis tournament."

"Which one are you in?" Sumire asked.

Kari laughed, "None, I also got excused from club activities because most of the practices and meetings for the athletic clubs take place outside, and I'm basically allergic to the sun."

"Cause of your fair complexion?" replied Sumire, "They're very understanding at this school."

"Yeah." Kari said, rolling her eyes, "I heard Alice is prepping for tennis."

"How did she manage that? Today is her first day!" said Sumire.

Kari shrugged, "She's very good apparently; the girls from the club basically begged her to join last minute." She smirked, "All I know is that she is going to be in a very short skirt, and that's something I really need to see."

They made their way to the tennis courts. Luckily for Sumire, all her usual tormentors were distracted by the festival and she could wander freely without Lucia's protection, though she was happy to have Kari at her side in case she needed someone to back her up. They arrived just in time to see Alice serving the ball. She tossed it up in the air and with great elegance; she brought her racket down on it. The ball soared over the net and across the court, too fast for Alice's lanky male opponent. He chased the ball down clumsily and hit it into the net. It dropped on his side of the court and rolled to his feet. Alice smiled, the Official announced that the score was "40-love" meaning that the boy hadn't scored a single hit and Alice only needed one more shot to win. The was probably do to the fact that he simply couldn't take his eyes off Alice to watch the ball as it flew past him. She tossed the ball up high and slammed it toward the boy, who was gazing at her longingly, it hit him directly between the legs and he crumpled over on the court.

"Pathetic…" Alice murmured as the Official announced her victory, "No matter who he is, a man will always have one weakness, maybe that's why I prefer women." She looked up into the crowd of cheering girls and drooling boys. Suddenly, from her grave expression, a smile appeared. "Sumire!" She dropped her racket and immediately went to the edge of the court. "Have you come to cheer for me?"

"That was magnificent, Alice. I didn't realize you were so talented!" Sumire exclaimed, "You must be the best player in the school."

Alice chuckled and shook her head, "My talent, though I am agile and strong, does not lie solely in my athletic skill. I have a specific gift for bringing people _pleasure..._" She stepped towards Sumire, putting her hand behind the young girls back and guiding her closer, "Won't you allow me to show you my other talents? I'm sure we can find a nice private place and I-" Alice's sentence stopped abruptly when a yellow tennis ball bounced off the back of her head. She turned around angrily, "Who dares to-!… Oh, it's you." She grumbled.

"So you beat a scrawny boy… how about a real challenge?" proposed Lucia, picking up the tennis ball as it rolled to her feet. She smirked and put her own racket over her shoulder, "Think you can handle a champion?"

Alice laughed in response, then turned back to Sumire. "When I win, I will come find you again. Until then, knowing that you are here on the sidelines, hoping for my victory, is enough to give me the vigor to win this quickly." She walked back onto her side of the court and retrieved her racket. "Ready to lose?" she asked Lucia.

The official stepped in between them, looking rather confused. "You can't compete against someone in your own school, the boys team still has players who have yet to play."

"We don't want to!" shouted one of the boys, "Just let them play."

"Yea…" said another, staring longingly at Lucia, "We can watch. Watching is just fine."

"We don't need to play a full set, just one game will do." Lucia added, tossing the ball up and catching it again, "And it won't take long at all to beat her."

Alice scoffed, "Right, enough talk. Let's just begin." The official nodded. Lucia didn't respond with words, instead she threw the ball towards Alice, allowing her the first serve. Alice caught it and immediately tossed it towards the sky. She swung her racket swiftly and hit the ball with immense force. It moved so quickly that it looked like a mere yellow blur as it passed over the net and onto Lucia's side of the court. Lucia seemed unimpressed, but moved in the blink of an eye to return the serve with the same efficiency; it flew back towards Alice. The exchange continued, the two girls leaping across their own sides of the court in pursuit of the ball. As if it were some sort of dance, their graceful movement looked almost choreographed. The ball moved too fast to keep track, but suddenly it flew right past Alice's racket and bounced on the pavement. It was silent, the Official looked at the girls with amazement, both had stopped moving but neither had even broken a sweat. He raised his arm, "15-Love!" Lucia had scored the first point. Alice frowned irately, mad at herself for missing and realizing that Lucia was a worthy opponent. She served again, Lucia responded even more aggressively, hitting the ball hard and sending it over Alice's head and into the corner of her court."30-love!" Exclaimed the Official; everyone cheered for the Dark Prince.

"I told you it'd be quick." Lucia murmured, smiling.

Alice was not pleased, she studied the ball in her hand with an annoyed expression. Then, a grin crossed her face as well. "You're getting ahead of yourself, you've only scored twice. I can easily catch up!" She served the ball again.

Kari took a deep breath and glanced over at Sumire, who was watching intently. "So…" she murmured, "How does it feel to have these two girls competing over you?"

Sumire broke out the trance the amazing game had put her in, she looked at Kari with a confused face, "What do you mean?"

"You're not that much an idiot, are you?" Kari asked, "Isn't it obvious?"

"They aren't competing over me." Sumire stated, turning her attention back towards the game.

"Uh huh.." scoffed Kari, "Riiiiight." Alice finally scored a point, bringing her score to 15. "So, if Alice wins, she gets to escort you to the festival, right? But what about Lucia? She's better than Alice, she'll probably win. What does she get if she does?"

"I don't know, a trophy?" Sumire responded, shrugging but not taking her eyes off the competitors.

"No, from you. She's playing for you… so what does she get?" Kari asked, watching Alice score again.

"I told you, this isn't about me. They are just… spirited rivals." Sumire maintained, clapping and cheering for both girls simultaneously.

"Yea, ok." Kari sighed, not convinced. Lucia scored yet again; the score was 40-30, one more score and she'd win. Alice looked a bit flustered, she'd never had an opponent who could actually play and wasn't victim to her beauty. Lucia, on the other hand, looked quite confident as the ball came towards her again. However, as she swung at the ball, something curious happened. It almost seemed to move around her racket and then change it's direction completely before it fell to the ground. The miss surprised everyone, including Lucia. Suddenly the score was 40-40, meaning there would have to be two more scores before either girl could win. Alice served again; Lucia returned it with determination, hitting it to the back of Alice's half of the court. Alice missed it, but luckily for her, it somehow fell outside the court. The Official shouted that it was out of bounds and no points were made. Lucia glared at Alice, who smirked arrogantly and served again quickly. The ball soared right by Lucia's ear and landed in the court; Alice had the advantage. The sorceress tensed, confused as to how she kept missing the ball. She looked over at Sumire, and for the first time, she looked nervous.

Alice didn't wait for her to calm herself. Instead she hit the ball, her racket impacting with such strength that the ball looked like it would explode as it went towards Lucia. Lucia returned it, hitting it into a hard to reach corner, however Alice reached it just in time. She returned the ball to an equally difficult place for Lucia to get to, but she managed somehow. It seemed that neither would give up, the ball just kept flying back and forth between them. Alice hit it in a way that set up Lucia perfectly. The Sorceress readied herself, watching the ball intently as it flew towards her. It went over the net and suddenly dropped. Lucia reacted, leaping forward, diving with her racket in front of her. Everyone held their breath.

Miss. The ball fell right in front of her and bounced away. "Game!" shouted the Official, "Fugihara Alice!" Everyone cheered except for Sumire and Kari, who weren't sure what to do.

Lucia got up and brushed herself, she didn't look at anyone, she glared down at the ball. Alice praised herself, almost dancing as she crossed the court and went to Sumire. "Congratulations on a great game!" exclaimed the younger girl.

"This victory is dedicated to you, my dear!" she declared, kissing Sumire's hand. Sumire felt butterflies in her stomach as the elemental kissed her. She wondered how red her cheeks were turning, because she could feel them burning.

"Don't soil Sumire's name with a victory achieved through cheating." Lucia said, picking up the ball.

She walked directly up to Alice, who saw her coming and cringed, holding her racket as if she had to defend herself. "What are you talking about? I won!" Lucia looked very angry, "By the way, it would be unsportsmanlike to hit someone for winning! Just accept defeat!"

Lucia looked at her sternly, "I won't accept it."

Alice lowered her racket, realizing that Lucia was probably above such violence. "How foolish, everyone will think you are a sore loser." Alice laughed nervously.

"I demand a rematch." Lucia said.

"But I won! You can't beat me, I'm obviously the better player." Alice maintained.

"I'm certain I can beat you… there was something peculiar in the winds today that did not play well in my favor." Lucia replied, "As an air elemental, didn't you feel the shifts in the wind? I did."

"I didn't feel anything." Alice said, twirling her racket in her hand, "You must've imagined it."

"I see. Nonetheless, you cannot deny my request; it is in the rules of the festival that every defeated opponent is allowed one chance of redemption." Lucia stated, "Which cannot be turned down by the victor."

All eyes were on Alice, who looked aberrantly anxious. She composed herself and nodded, "Alright, you can have your rematch. I'm warning you, you'll just lose again."

"I will meet you later then." Lucia replied, walking away. "Oh," she said stopping and looking over her shoulder slightly, "And let's keep it fair next time." Alice's face turned red and she leered at Lucia.

As she passed, Lucia nodded slightly at Sumire. The younger girl didn't understand the gesture, but she nodded her head down in response. Kari snickered and watched Lucia go. "I don't know why you're standing here, she could use a little consoling after that loss."

Sumire blushed, "Lucia and I are not like that, you know we're barely even friends. We're simply stuck together and that is all."

"But you share a room." Kari stated.

"So?" replied the younger girl.

"And study together every night." Kari continued.

"Yea, basically." Said Sumire.

The demon pressed on, "And you go on missions together."

"When she takes me with her, yes." Sumire replied, shrugging.

"And you get nervous when she's gone too long." Kari stated, "And when she's hurt, you freak out."

"Well, honestly who wouldn't get a little uneasy when someone they know is injured." Sumire maintained, tired of Kari's tedious statements.

"And you think she's pretty." Said the demon plainly.

"She's beautiful." Sumire stated, "But I don't see what that has to do w-" Sumire stopped speaking when she looked at Kari's grinning face. She looked as if she were plotting something. Sumire groaned, "Anyone would admit she's beautiful, it doesn't mean I'm personally attracted to her."

"I never said that." Kari said with a laugh, walking away.

"Cause I'm not attracted to her!" continued Sumire, shouting behind her.

"Sure, sure." Kari scoffed, "Whatever you say."

"I'm serious, I don't like her!" yelled Sumire. Suddenly everyone was staring at her. She blushed and walked up behind Kari quickly, "So stop insinuating things."

Kari snickered and nodded her head, "You're just too easy, no wonder Lucia has so much fun teasing you."

"You're just as bad as she is sometimes." Grumbled Sumire, unable to keep from smiling despite her displeasure. "Anyway, that match was intense, wasn't it?"

"Yea, yea. Only cause Alice was cheating. I thought she was pretty attractive until she did that." Kari responded, kicking the dirt as she walked.

"What?! How could you tell?" Sumire quickly questioned, "I didn't see anything."

"She was manipulating the ball with her elemental powers, it was mildly obvious." Kari stated, "Really, don't you pay attention in any of your magic classes?"

"Whatever…" was all Sumire could say in reply.

"So, she cheated and technically that means she didn't win. Are you still going to the festival with her?" Kari asked.

"Oh, I don't know. I couldn't even tell she was cheating. I guess I'll still go with her though." Decided Sumire.

Kari sighed,"What about Lucia?"

"Ugh, what about Lucia?" groaned Sumire, "I told you, there's nothing between us and if she wins it's just because she wanted to win…not for me. Let's just go watch the rest of the events." They walked back to the center of the stadium was filled with athletes, all participating in the Track and Field events. Sumire couldn't help but feel strangely ill, the giddy feeling she had felt when Alice kissed her hand had turned to some sort of knotting in her stomach since she'd learned that she cheated. Sumire clutched her stomach, wondering if she was just hungry. She grabbed some popcorn from one of the vendors and sat on some empty bleachers, but she didn't eat. From where she sat, with Kari at her side, she could see the whole stadium field. Various Track events were taking place; races, hurdles, throws, and jumps. The girls were dominating in every event.

"It's sort of boring, isn't it?" Kari said, sitting back and sighing.

"Yea, it's no competition, the girls are winning every event." Sumire replied, "I didn't think demon boys could be so pathetic…" She laughed at herself for actually thinking she'd find romance with one of the boy students. Looking at them now, she knew she wasn't even that desperate. On the other hand, if Alice had been a boy, she would've certainly considered it; though her cheating was not an amiable trait. No, that made Sumire like her much less than before. She sighed, there would be no romance for her at Venus Academy.

Unconsciously, a thought of Lucia crossed her mind. She put a piece of popcorn in her mouth as she pondered; If Lucia were a boy, Sumire had no doubt she'd be attracted to her. '_A male Lucia, that would be perfect…' _Sumire thought,_ 'Then again, she's already so beautiful, maybe she's fine as a girl too, I wonder if she-'_ Sumire stopped wondering, "No way!" she exclaimed, choking on her popcorn in the process.

"What is it?!" cried Kari, who had been watching the games but was now quite taken aback by Sumire's outburst. Sumire grabbed Kari's water bottle and managed to swallow the popcorn. "Woah, are you ok?" Kari questioned, patting her friend on the back.

"Fine.." gasped Sumire, "It was nothing." Sumire was not about to give Kari the pleasure of knowing that she'd even considered Lucia as a love interest.

"You sure?" asked the concerned demon girl.

"Yea." Sumire answered, handing the rest of the popcorn to Kari and pretending to pay attention to the games again. "I just- I thought of something that I really was disgusted with." Even the slightest inclination that she could feel that way for Lucia was very disturbing. The girl had very few traits that Sumire could find attractive. She recalled the Sorceress's hand on her thigh and cringed when she remembered thinking that it actually felt good. Despite her beauty, her personality lacked warmth, she was too serious about school, she was secretive, she was mean when she wanted to be, and she was mildly arrogant, all of which were traits that repulsed Sumire. To top it off, Sumire had a sneaking suspicion that the night that Lucia was caught in the other Girl's Dorm she was doing perverse things. At least, that was the way Lucia made it sound. She groaned, there was no way, no chance at all that she'd feel anything similar to romantic interest in Lucia. The games finished an hour or so later, Sumire had dozed off in the stands.

"Sumire. Wake up." Whispered a low voice, "Sumire, you idiot. You can't sleep here."

"Leave me alone…" groaned the drowsy girl. A splash of freezing water hit her face and she was abruptly returned to a conscious state. "WHAT THE HELL!?"

"You need to compete in at least on event or you will fail your physical education class." Lucia stated, dropping an empty water bottle between the bleachers, "There's a sprint coming up, you should go do it."

"Ugh, I don't want to." Sumire complained, wiping the water off her face angrily, "I can't believe you did that. Can't you learn a nice way to wake me up?"

"It's not my fault you sleep like a passed out drunkard. The world could be crumbling around you and you still wouldn't even stir." Lucia answered, nudging the younger girl with her shoulder. Sumire couldn't deny it, she laughed half-heartedly.

"Yea, yea. When is this sprint starting?" Sumire asked, standing up.

Lucia smiled and pinned a number Sumire's shirt. "Three minutes, I already signed you up." Lucia looked down at her watch, "Actually two minutes, we better get going."

"We? Are you racing too?" Sumire asked.

Lucia pointed to her own number and grinned, "Told you we'd have to compete somehow. Now C'mon, we're gonna miss the race." She jumped down the bleachers towards the field.

"Whatever, I'm gonna win!" exclaimed Sumire, following just behind, "You're gonna have to wear a pink frilly dress!"

"I thought I was doing your homework." Lucia replied, grimacing.

Sumire pondered for a moment, "You'll be doing my homework while wearing a pink frilly dress!"

"It doesn't matter, you won't beat me anyway." Lucia laughed. Unlike her challenge with Alice, Lucia seemed more playful with Sumire. She reached the starting line, where two skinny boys crouched, ready to begin the sprint. "Once around the track." Lucia said, "Easy."

"Psh, I'm faster than you think." Sumire mumbled, making sure her sneakers were tied.

"Mhm…" Lucia scoffed, "Hmmm… what my prize should be?... I wonder how embarrassed I can make you."

Sumire looked determined as she crouched, she turned and smiled at Lucia, "I've only got three words for you," she taunted, "Pink. Frilly. Dress." The gun sounded and they took off. Sumire was well in front of the other three, Lucia was amazed at how fast the small girl really was. The boys fell behind right away, wheezing as they jogged around the track. Lucia laughed, and as if she'd put no effort into it whatsoever, she leaned forward and began to pick up speed rapidly. In a few seconds she was already beginning to pass Sumire.

Sumire glared at the Sorceress, who was smirking mockingly as she passed. Sumire's legs throbbed, she hadn't stretched before the race and it had been awhile since she'd tried to run that fast. However, she could not let Lucia win and have even more incentive to make her miserable. She pressed herself forward, suddenly sprinting fast enough to pass Lucia again. The race was just about over, there were only a few more meters to the finish line when something in Sumire's leg gave out. She stumbled and tripped, falling onto the track. To everyone's surprise, Lucia didn't hesitate, she stopped immediately and went back for Sumire.

"Are you ok!?" she exclaimed, picking the girl up.

Sumire winced, "I'm fine, my leg just gave out. Put me down, people are staring."

"You're not walking on a hurt leg." Stated Lucia, carrying Sumire over to the medical area. In the process, she crossed the finish line, the boys were still running around the last curve of the track. The official didn't know what to make of the situation.

"Venus Academy wins the race!...?" he declared, Lucia shrugged, she wasn't a referee and didn't know the rules. At the moment, they didn't really matter to her anyway. She put Sumire down on the bench.

"Alright, what happened?" Lucia asked.

"My knee just popped, it's fine now though, see?" Sumire claimed, bending her leg back and forth. It certainly seemed fine, but Lucia wasn't sure.

"I could just carry you everywhere… for like a week or so." Lucia offered.

"No!" groaned Sumire, "No way, not a chance! People already hate me enough as it is, that's one of the last things I need." She got up, "Look, I can walk fine!" And she could, she walked down a sideline for a few feet then turned and walked back, proving that her leg was not damaged.

"Ok, ok. I believe you." Lucia laughed softly, standing up too. She smiled at Sumire, "I just don't want you hurting yourself worse, that's all."

"Well… I'm fine." Sumire said again, "I can walk..fine." Lucia was smiling warmly at Sumire, which was not something Sumire was used too. It didn't make her as uncomfortable as it should have, "So…uh." She murmured.

"Right!" Lucia exclaimed, suddenly changing her expression, "So, I won… what should I make you do?"

"What do you mean you won!?" cried Sumire, "I was totally beating you before I fell!"

Lucia raised her eyebrow at Sumire, "Yea, but you fell. And then I was in front of you but I was nice enough to pick you up. Otherwise, I would've won."

"But when you carried me over the line, I was in front, so I win!" Sumire claimed.

"My foot actually stepped over the line, so it was surely my victory!" Lucia maintained.

They both looked at the official, who panicked a bit. "I-I-…uh…" he stuttered, "t-t-t-tie?"

Both girls groaned and sat on a bench, "Ridiculous…" grumbled Sumire.

"Utterly ridiculous, you know I won." Lucia replied with a sigh.

Sumire rolled her eyes, "I'm so much faster than you."

"I was letting you pass me for dramatic effect." Claimed Lucia.

"Whatever… " Sumire huffed, resting her chin on her hand.

Lucia looked at the unhappy young girl beside her and sighed again, "….Fine, I can do your homework if you want. You did _almost _beat me."

"Really!?" exclaimed Sumire, her eyes suddenly glistening with joy.

"Yea, yea. But no pink dresses. And you have to do something in return." Lucia answered.

"….Like what?" Sumire said suspiciously.

"Nothing bad…" Lucia suddenly looked unsure of herself, she looked at her feet. "You just ha-…I want you to-…"

"What?" Sumire inquired.

"…Stay away from Alice." Lucia said.

Sumire paused, feeling rather surprised and slightly appalled. "Why?"

"Because that's what I'm asking in return." Lucia stated simply, "Deal?"

"No. I'd rather do my homework, thank you very much." Grumbled Sumire, standing up.

"I'm only asking this because… Alice is trouble." Lucia murmured.

"And you're not?" Sumire replied, "You're the one who sneaks into the other dorms at night, you're the one who comes home with blood on her shirt."

"Don't start that again." Groaned Lucia.

"Why not, I still haven't received anything close to an explanation from you!" cried Sumire.

"Why do you need to know?" Lucia replied, "It's none of your business."

"I'm your partner or apprentice or whatever, aren't I?" Sumire retorted, frustratedly, "What's really going on? What has the Council been making you do?!"

"My job." Lucia said bluntly, "Stop asking questions you know I can't answer."

"So you'd rather keep lying to me?" Sumire spat.

"I'm not_ lying_…" Lucia replied.

"It's just me, who am I gonna tell?" Sumire continued.

"I said it was none of your business." Lucia replied coldly, "So just drop it." She sounded fed up, she almost yelled at Sumire but somehow managed to control herself. Still, Sumire was caught off guard by it. Lucia sighed, "It's for the best if you don't know…So please.." The Sorceress looked torn, she tried to speak but couldn't say what she wanted to. "If I could tell you I would, but there's nothing I could say that would explain. Believe me, won't you? You're happier not knowing this." She began to walk away.

"Where are you going?!"yelled Sumire, "I'm not done arguing with you."

"I'm sick of always arguing with you." Lucia replied coldly, "Do you really hate me that much?" The words sliced through Sumire. "It's like you want to keep pushing me away." Lucia clenched her fists, "It's working, congratulations."

"Lucia… I-" called Sumire, "Lucia!" The Sorceress didn't turn around, instead she moved into a large group of people and disappeared. Sumire cursed and turned around, "Ugh! Why does everything have to be so complicated."

"We're girls, dear, it's in our nature." Alice said, approaching from the other side of the stadium, "We tend to think to hard about things that should be simple."

"Yea." Agreed Sumire, sighing.

"Are you ready to watch me defeat Lucia again?" Alice asked, smiling proudly.

Sumire shook her head, "Alice… did you cheat?" she asked quietly.

"I don't think of using gifts that I am born with as cheating." Alice replied, unaffected by Sumire's question. "It's natural ability, isn't that what sports are about?"

"I suppose you are right." Sumire decided, "So I guess you did beat Lucia fairly?"

"More or less." Alice said, "But I will let her try again if she insists."

However, as they all gathered at the court for the rematch, Lucia was nowhere to be found. Crowds of girls whimpered and sighed, looking around anxiously for their Prince to emerge and win back her honor. Sumire stood next to Kari, awkwardly hopeful that Lucia would show up soon even though she didn't know what to say to her after their fight. Alice, on the other hand, looked quite relieved. She walked around the court smugly, laughing and saying things like "She's too much of a coward to face me." And "She knew she'd lose again!" Alas, the prince never arrived and Alice announced that she would remain the victor. Sumire felt strangely disheartened, part of her had wished that Lucia would show up and defeat Alice, although that would mean Sumire wasn't obligated to go to the celebration with the elemental.

"That means I win." Said Alice, pompously shaking some fan girls hands. "And that means Sumire will go with me to the party tomorrow, right?" Sumire nodded, "Glorious!" Alice exclaimed, suddenly kissing Sumire on the cheek. Sumire didn't move, or smile for that matter. Alice's dazzling smile faded to a confused frown, "What's wrong, aren't you excited?"

"Oh, of course!" Sumire replied, sincerely happy to be chosen to go with Alice. However, something in the back of her mind was gnawing away at her happiness. Lucia wasn't the type to avoid any sort of competition, where had she gone? A small part of her, the part that wondered if Kari was right about Alice and Lucia competing over Sumire, wondered what it meant that Lucia didn't show up. Did it mean that she didn't care? Sumire knew she was getting ahead of herself, and that Kari was wrong anyway so it didn't matter. She smiled at Alice, "I will see you tomorrow night."

"Wear something stunning." Alice said, "And I will try my best not to outshine your beauty." Sumire nodded again, hoping that was a compliment, and Alice kissed her hand. She left with a crowd of girls, leaving Sumire alone with Kari again.

"I don't know what I saw in her." Kari mumbled.

"She's sweet and kind, and cares about me." Sumire said, almost as if she were trying to reassure herself.

"Right." Kari answered, almost wishing she could believe it herself.

As the sports festival came to a close and the afternoon sun rose over the school, Sumire returned to her bedroom unhappily. She sat on her bed and stared at the door, waiting for Lucia to return, trying to think of the right things to say. She realized it would look weird if she was just staring as the Sorceress walked in, so she grabbed a book and pretended to read instead. An hour passed, the sun set and Sumire missed dinner. She continued to flip through the book, unconsciously looking at the pictures on every page rather than reading at all. The pictures were pretty gruesome; all images of the way humans viewed demon, as terrible, frightening things. Though, the "witches" page made Sumire laugh a bit. The depicted a witch as a decrepit old hag with a long nose and jagged, cavity ridden teeth. Lucia, being a Sorceress, could be compared to a witch in the human world, but the picture looked nothing like her. Sumire doubted a regular book illustrator could capture the Sorceress's true beauty anyway. A few pictures later Sumire saw an image that made her sick to her stomach, she heaved as she set eyes on it. The picture was an incredibly realistic depiction of a pale, red-eyed demon feasting on a human, blood spewing forth from the victim's neck. The worst part about it was that the demon itself looked like a human, and a beautiful human at that. 'Kyūketsuki' was all it said beneath the picture. Sumire closed the book right away, unable to look anymore.

The door opened just as Sumire put the book back on Lucia's desk. Sumire quickly turned away, unsure she could even look at Lucia, let alone speak to her. She decided it would be easiest to pretend as if she were mad at the Sorceress, which looking back on it, was not a very good idea at all. She grabbed a different book and went to her bed to read it.

At first, neither of them said a word. Lucia sighed awkwardly as she changed out of her tank top and shorts. She quickly combed her hair and went into the bathroom to wash up, grateful that she had something to distract herself from speaking to Sumire. However, she could only pretend to be busy for so long.

"Ah, so you're finally studying on your own." Lucia observed with a half-smile as she walked back into the room, "But do you get what you're reading?" The was no response, Lucia sighed and sat on her bed, "Do you need help?" Sumire slowly shook her head, the first acknowledgement of Lucia's existence since she'd entered the room. "Are you sure?" She asked. Sumire turned the page she was looking at and remained silent. Lucia groaned, "Ugh, I can't handle this. Talk to me!"

"Why weren't you at the rematch?" Sumire asked quietly, turning another page.

"Oh, that…" Lucia said, "Is that why you are so quiet? I just had something I needed to do."

"Something like… a mission?" Sumire questioned.

"Uh, no… I mean well.. yea, a little one." Lucia mumbled.

"Are you going to be honest with me now?" Sumire asked, finally looking up from her book.

"I can't, I told you." Lucia sighed, "I'm really doing you a favor."

"You don't have to tell me if you're not allowed. Just take me with you, I'll find out on my own." Sumire requested, "We're partners, aren't we?"

"You never liked the missions before, why are you so interested now? You'd just be waiting around for me to finish again. This will be good for you, you wanted to sleep at night didn't you?" Lucia replied, "Besides, I can't take you with me either. It's not safe."

"What about that night when you snuck into the dorm rooms and got caught? I mean, you were doing something on campus, can't you at least explain that?" Sumire replied.

"That wasn't a mission, it was.. I was…" She stopped talking and looked down, "It was nothing."

"Did I mention that because you didn't come to the rematch, I'm going with Alice to the party tomorrow?" Sumire said frankly, turning yet another page, "I know you don't want me seeing her… but since you didn't show up to challenge her again, I wasn't so sure you really cared all that much."

Lucia looked furious for a moment; Sumire felt a spark of fright through her body. "I've got to go out." Was all she said as she turned quickly and walked out of the room.

Sumire threw her book off the bed and got up, "Fine!" she yelled after Lucia, "Whatever, I don't care!" She sat back down on her bed, "I mean, it's not like I'll stay up all night worrying about you or anything…" She looked at the closed door, and laid down on the bed. "Ha..Why would I do that?" She sighed, knowing she would do just that, she'd remain awake all night waiting for Lucia to come back, just to know that she'd be safe. Why? She wasn't quite sure, but she'd do it nonetheless. She decided that she needed a distraction. She grabbed her phone and sent a message to Kari, 'Sleepover in my room?' Kari replied a minute later that she liked the plan and would be over shortly.

Sumire fixed tea when Kari arrived and they relaxed in their pajamas on Sumire's bed, listening to Human world music and flipping through the TV. "So, why are you alone tonight anyway?" Kari finally asked, sipping her tea.

"Lucia had to go out… she wouldn't tell me why." Sumire replied, surfing through the channels for something interesting.

"Ooooh, out after curfew and everything?" Kari asked, "Why do you think she left? Does she have a secret lover, perhaps?"

"What?! No!" Sumire exclaimed, "Lucia's not the type.."

"What makes you think that? You've only known her for a few months." Kari pointed out, rolling onto her back and staring at the TV upside-down. "Oh hey, I like this show!"

Sumire ignored her and kept flipping channels, "Well, I mean… It's Lucia."

Kari scoffed, "Yea, exactly. She's attractive, wealthy, smart, athletic, and she's a giant flirt. Geez, she's the 'Prince' of the school, she had to get that title somehow you know. She must be taking advantage of her title. That's why she won't tell you, right?"

"What do you mean?" Sumire asked, giving up on the TV and looking over at Kari.

"Oh please, you're not that innocent." Kari replied, "And obviously she's not going to the boys dorms, they're not worth it, and they'd want a 'Princess' anyway, yah know? Your 'Prince' is probably in some other girl's room right now."

"That wouldn't explain the blood." Sumire stated, still blushing at the thoughts Kari had put in her mind.

Kari nodded, "Ok, ok… so she went on a mission yesterday, and today during the festival. But to go out on another one right after she gets back to the room? No way! You don't really think that's the only thing she does, do you? She has a seemingly legit reason to sneak out every night." Sumire shrugged and poured herself more tea, "Psh, if I were her, I'd probably be taking advantage of it too."

Sumire choked on her drink, "Would you really? With other girls?"

Kari merely winked, "There's certain things I like better about demon girls than demon boys… but hey, I like human girls just the same." Sumire must've made a terrified expression because Kari suddenly burst out laughing, "Don't worry, you're totally not my type." Sumire didn't know if she should feel insulted or relieved.

"What is your type?" Sumire asked, crossing her legs and setting her teacup on the nightstand.

Kari paused and gave Sumire a contemplative glance, "Well… a Prince, I think. Luckily our school has two of them."

"So you still like Alice?" Sumire asked, "Even after she used magic to win n' stuff?"

"I think she's very nice to look at, but I don't know her as well as you do and I didn't like that she cheated. You seem to like her well enough, blushing all day after she asked you out." Kari laughed. Sumire sighed apathetically. Kari shook her head, "Or I could be wrong…Is it bothering you that Lucia might be with some other girl right now?"

"That's none of my business!" Sumire blurted out, "Why would I care?"

"So you don't?" Kari asked.

"Yes, I mean No! I mean… I don't care. She can do whatever she wants." Sumire replied.

"Is that how you really feel?" Kari inquired, turning back onto her stomach and looking up at Sumire.

"Yes." Sumire maintained, sipping her tea again.

Kari rolled her eyes, "You are no fun at all." She smiled at Sumire, "I was just teasing, you don't have to worry, Lucia isn't with some girl, to the extent of my knowledge anyway."

"How do you know?" Sumire asked.

"I know why she got caught in the dorms that night." Kari stated, "She wasn't messing around with a girl, though she did scare a few pretty bad."

"Well, what was she doing there?" Sumire pressed impatiently.

"Retrieving pictures." Kari said, almost as if she wanted to stop the explanation with that.

"Oh, who of?" asked the human girl.

"You, in the public bath… They had intended to post them all over the school and hoped you would get so embarrassed you'd drop out." Kari admitted.

"WHAT?!" Sumire cried, absolutely mortified.

"She snuck in to stop them, and got caught. She probably didn't want you to know because she didn't want you to get upset… like you are right now." Kari murmured. "It was a pretty cruel trick, you're lucky she cared enough to do that for you."

"Why would they do that to me?! It's not my fault I'm stuck with Lucia, and she's probably no more excited with it than I am. And I know I don't belong here, but have I really ever done anything to deserve this?" Sumire cried, shoving her face in a pillow, "This really sucks, Kari."

"I think you're missing the point." Kari whispered, "Lucia stopped them, doesn't that mean anything to you?" Sumire sat up and looked at Kari with a dazed expression, realizing that she was being rather selfish. Still, she was too upset by the revelation to be touched by Lucia's kind actions. She bit her lip and shrugged. "Ugh… hopeless." Kari groaned.

Sumire tilted her head and continued to gaze at Kari, looking quite like a confused young puppy. "I'm thankful… if that's what you're asking." She finally said.

"Well, maybe you should tell that to Lucia." Kari recommended.

"Are you about ready to go to sleep?" Sumire asked with a yawn, changing the subject.

"Not really, I don't… need a lot of sleep." Kari said, sitting up.

"Oh," replied Sumire, doubtful that she could sleep much anyway. They both sat there quietly, watching some random program that was less interesting that it looked. Suddenly there was a loud thudding sound at the door, both girls stared at it with confused and startled expressions.

"What was that?" Kari exclaimed, standing up.

"I'm not sure…" Sumire whispered, turning off the TV and going to the door. She looked out the peephole, but the hallway was too dark to see anything. She opened the door slowly; the Sorceress fell into her arms. "Lucia?! What's wrong?!" Sumire asked, holding the girl up. Lucia regained herself and staggered to the closest chair before collapsing into it. She was clutching the side of her chest. "Lucia?" Lucia wasn't looking at Sumire, instead her gaze was fixed on Kari, who was also staring back, but focused on the wound Lucia was covering.

"I smell blood." The demon girl whispered, stepping closer to Lucia. Her body tensed as she looked at the Sorceress, she promptly turned her attention to Sumire. "It looks like you have something to deal with, something I'm probably not supposed to know about. So… I'll see you around." She left the room swiftly, closing the door behind her.

Lucia tried to sit up in her seat, "There are some things… I need to explain." She winced as she moved.

Sumire went to her quickly, "Not now, you're hurt!"

Lucia glared up at Sumire. Something flickered in her dark blue eye, "Yes… now. We don't have much time."

* * *

If you remember in the actual VVV series, Sumire is rather immature and sort of selfish in the beginning of the series, I wanted to incorporate that into this story. If you're getting frustrated with Sumire, that's what I want. Haha, it will make the rest of the story much more rewarding as you witness her grow. I think I have a minor obsession with that concept, maturing over the duration of a series I mean. It's just fullfilling because there are plenty of people I know that could do a lot more with themselves if they'd grow up a little bit, so this is kind of me living my own fantasy. lol. So, don't worry, Sumire will grow up and you'll love her again. As for Lucia, I think she's wonderful the way she is and I adore her. Haha, unlike the VVV series, where Lucia is only mature mentally, but not emotionally, I tried to make Lucia a more grown up individual, capable of understanding her feelings well before Sumire, fighting them still, but acknowledging their presence nonetheless... which is unlike my previous VVV fanfic, I think it was the opposite in that one. Plus, Lucia is a lot more sexual in the one, which I don't mind one bit. I think Alice is the reason for that.

Oh dear Alice, I want to know what you all think of her. I personally keep thinking about Prince Edward from _Enchanted _when I think of Alice, I feel as if their endearingly arrogant personalities are very similar, kind of like, "What isn't there to love about me? I'm amazing." *sparkling confident smile* I love her sexual innuendos, I hope you like them too. Alice, you dirty girl. lol.

As for Kari, well, some of you seem confused by her presence. She's an important part of the story, you will see that in due time, (Specifically Melah, I know you're about ready to kill me cause you've been waiting so long, I'm terrible, I know... but I wanted to make your special part a very important aspect of the plot, a climax if you will, so I had to wait to incorporate it, but I'm certain you've been catching my hints here and there.)

Alas, despite my excitement about the characters, I'm facing a problem. I think I started this project too soon after my other VVV fic, that's why I find myself unable to write as well as I normally do and I can't really connect myself with the piece. I regret to inform you that I might go on hiatus, take a step back from this piece and come back at another time. I'm not sure yet, unless something inspires me soon I won't be updating after the next 2 updates, which will take place after the new year. I don't know yet, what do you think?

Anyway, nothing is for certain, except for the fact that this story will be updated again after the New Year, when I get back from NYC for my cousin's wedding.

----

IN OTHER NEWS! Merry Christmas! I'm about to go open presents but first I wanted to post this because I promised. Anyway, I'm excited! I bought all my own presents for my siblings and parents this year. I got my lil brother some great sweaters, hoodies, and cologne; my other brother got a radio/cd/mp3 system for his car and alcohol; my sister got tons of clothing and perfume, I bought my dad a Sirius home system and some Sake (酒), and I got my mom some kitchen stuff and a goat. Yes a goat, it was a donation to a charity thing and it's being sent to a family in Africa. That's what she wanted, I can't wait to see her face. I went out and bought her a stuffed goat and tied a ribbon around it and I'm going to give it to her and see if she knows what it means. BTW, if you're wondering how I could afford all this stuff, it's because of my new job, the one thats keeping me away from you guys. I'm sorry, but I love you? I'm curious though, what did you all give/get for Christmas or whatever holidays you celebrate?


	6. Chapter 5: Spells & Secrets

It's been too long, so I'm not gonna waste time talking. Read&Review

* * *

Sumire crouched over Lucia, "We'll need to make time because you're going to bleed to death if we don't do something about this right now!" Lucia's face was pure white and she'd certainly lost a lot of blood; the carpet from the doorway to the chair was splattered with red stains. Sumire gagged as she looked and covered her mouth, "You've got to go to the hospital, or infirmary, anything."

Lucia clutched Sumire's arm, "I've been hurt worse than this, I need you to focus."

"Lucia, there's a puddle of blood on the carpet!" cried Sumire, "We can't just let you bleed to death!" As long as the injury remained neglected, the young girl wouldn't let it go. Lucia decided the only way she could get Sumire to listen was to tend to the wound first, but wasting such a long amount of time worried her.

"I know you're bad with blood, but please pay attention. Do you remember that spell I taught you? The one that temporarily stops bleeding?" Lucia asked.

"I-..I don't know." Sumire whispered, panicking as she tried to recall the words.

"It's fine, it's fine, calm down." Lucia responded, sitting up in the chair and biting her lip so she couldn't cry out. "I'm… too weak right now to cast it on my own, I need you to repeat after me, ok?"

"O..ok." said Sumire. Lucia took her hand and placed it on her chest, where the wound had been inflicted. Sumire blushed innocently as she felt Lucia's heartbeat under her palm, but was too distracted by the wet blood on her fingertips that had soaked through Lucia's shirt. Lucia flinched at the touch, "Ready?" she asked, Sumire took a breath and nodded nervously. The Sorceress began to speak faintly.

Sumire repeated the words, trying to focus entirely on Lucia's voice. She stopped when she realized nothing was happening. "This is hopeless, you need a doctor!" Sumire exclaimed suddenly.

Lucia glared at the young girl, "Are you even trying? You need to put faith into spells or they won't work." Her blue eye was misting over, she sighed and gazed at Sumire. "Please... have faith won't you?"

"I can't do it!" cried Sumire, "Let's just get you to the infirmary, please!"

"Sumire, you need to do this." Lucia replied, clenching her teeth. She hadn't realized how much blood she had already lost and her strength was fading quickly. "I… if I keep bleeding like this… I don't know if I'll make it to the infirmary. Please, I know you can do it." Sumire looked at Sorceress, realizing right away that she had no choice. This time, she closed her eyes and focused only on Lucia's heartbeat under her palm. She murmured the incantation on her own, trying to believe that silly words could do miraculous things, even when spoken through a mortal mouth. She began to believe that Lucia would be alright; she had to be alright. Strangely, the once foreign words cascaded over her lips as if she'd known them for ages. She began summoning powers she didn't know she had. At first, there was merely an odd coolness on her hand in contrast to the Sorceress's warm blood; but suddenly her entire body began to shiver, as if all the heat within her transferred over to Lucia's cold body. It was the kind of cold that stung, like walking barefoot on a frozen pond. Although it was opposite of fire, the cold even began to feel like it was burning her skin. Immediately, she wanted to pull her hand away from Lucia, the pain was excruciating, but she wouldn't allow herself to waver. She kept her hand on Lucia's chest until the spell was finished.

Lucia gasped as Sumire's spell ended, "Wha- what did you just do?" Lucia's shirt, where Sumire had placed her hand, was entirely scorched. She stood up and went to the dresser, looking at herself in the mirror above it. The wound was still there, a large gash across the left side of her chest, but the blood had stopped flowing from it; as if it had been cauterized.

"I-I- d-d-d-don't know, t-the s-s-spell I t-think!" stuttered Sumire, quivering with tears in her eyes as she looked at her own hand. Nothing was wrong with it, it wasn't blackened by frost or frozen solid as she felt it had been.

"Sumire, you're shivering and your lips are blue!" exclaimed Lucia, staring at the young girl with a bewildered expression. "A-Are you crying?!"

"I'm just cold." Sumire replied, trying to control herself, laughing and wiping the tears from her eyes. Her body had already begun to warm up again. "But, you-you're not b-bleeding anymore."

Lucia stared at Sumire, "That wasn't the spell I taught you, I don't even know what you just did..." She stared at her reflection, she didn't feel any different, but what had Sumire's spell actually done to her? She smiled and lightly touched Sumire's face, "But, you're right, I'm not bleeding… I actually feel a lot bet-" Suddenly, a sharp pain shot across her chest. It worse than when she'd received the injury. She reached out for the dresser to support herself, groaning.

"Lucia!" cried the younger girl.

"I'm fine." Winced the Sorceress, breathing heavily and trying to keep herself standing, "I guess your spell didn't make the pain go away."

"I'm sorry! Do you want me to try the pain spell?" Sumire offered, though she was still shivering slightly from the last incantation.

"Thank you but I don't know what incantation you just did, so I can't determine the effects that spell will have in addition to it." She said as she shook her head.

"Will you be alright?" Sumire asked.

"Yea, I'll live… I think." Lucia mumbled.

"How did this happen Lucia? I've seen you bruised and cut before, but not like this." Sumire whispered with a concerned look on her face.

"I got ambushed," Lucia replied, "it was like they knew I was coming."

"What are you talking about?" inquired the younger girl, "Who are they?"

"What I've been trying to tell you… but now I don't know where to begin." Lucia closed her eye and breathed slowly. She tried to stand up straight as she normally did, but was forced to remain leaning on the dresser. "The missions," she murmured, "the ones you've been so curious about… they're not simple errands." Inside her, something began to twist in her throat, trying to force her not to speak anymore.

"Well that's sort of obvious." Sumire replied, gesturing towards Lucia's injury.

"Do you want to know the truth or not?" groaned Lucia, lacking the stamina to explain with Sumire interjecting. She didn't want to tell the human girl any of these things in the first place… but she had been avoiding it for too long. With the events that were unfolding, Lucia knew that Sumire had to be aware of the cruel reality of what was going on. There was no turning back.

She reached into the dresser and pulled out a small black book, then tossed it to Sumire. The younger girl caught it and looked confused as she studied it. She opened it carefully to find dozens of names scrawled inside, many with a line through them. "The Council doesn't just control the school, they've become the most powerful political force in the Otherworld, they've basically got the government in the palm of their hands." She paused, struggling to continue. Still, something inside her was restraining her from speaking, she felt the tugging again, this time in her left eye and she gasped, "And I-… I am forced to do whatever they ask of me. I'm indebted to them." She clutched her head and pounded her fist on the dresser.

"Are you alright to be standing? Perhaps you should sit down again," Sumire said, walking toward Lucia.

"Listen!" Lucia growled, backing away from Sumire and trying to muster the strength to say what needed to be said, "Those names…." She paused, her expression was severely pained, "They're all…targets."

"Targets?" Sumire questioned, glancing down at the names and spotting her professor's at the bottom of the page. She wondered what it was doing in the little black book, and more importantly, why he was crossed off twice.

"They are people… demons … that I-" She groaned and covered her eye, it was throbbing worse than before. All at once her whole body began to hurt, her nerves burned, her throat closed up, her lungs strained for air, her ribs felt like they were breaking because of the way it seemed her heart would be yanked right from her chest if she said another word. She knew right away that it was punishment for breaking her oath; she had sworn never to reveal the Council's secrets. But she realized that the punishment wasn't the worst outcome, she feared that Sumire would turn on her more than the wrath of the Council. She didn't want to lose the girl. This fear stifled her voice and choked her. However, there was another force working within her, a power that willed her to continue. It was her desire to keep Sumire safe, and the only way to do that was to tell her the truth. She breathed deeply and pressed on, "-that I was sent to kill." She admitted at last.

The final word hit Sumire like a slap in the face, it took her a moment or two to even blink again. The tiny book slipped and fell from her hand, but she didn't bend to pick it up. Instead, her wide eyes fixed themselves upon Lucia. "I…know it's terrible… and hard to believe." Lucia explained, still suffering, "But, I have murdered every person on those pages." Sumire didn't move, nor did she speak, Lucia wasn't even sure if the girl was breathing. "The Council told me to, I didn't have a choice. Do you understand?" She reached for Sumire, but the younger girl instantly stepped back with a horrified expression. Lucia flinched and lowered her hand, "Now you know why I didn't want to tell you…" Lucia made her way back to the chair, which was already stained with blood, knowing her fears had been realized.

"…Why?" Sumire finally choked out.

"Because they posed a threat to the Council, and to the peace in this world." Lucia said, sounding like she was repeating something she'd heard a dozen times before, "Because I was ordered to."

"Were they criminals? What did they do to deserve to die?" Sumire questioned, trying to make sense of it.

"…I'm never given a reason." Lucia murmured.

"So you just kill people?! What if they're innocent?!" cried Sumire.

Lucia sighed, "The Council says they aren't."

"The Council this, the Council that, who are they to say? Why do they control you?" Sumire questioned, picking up the book in her hand and looking at the names again and attempting to keep control of herself.

Lucia's eye throbbed again, "You always ask questions that I'm not supposed to answer." She sat up, ignoring her eye, "They are a group of powerful demons, like gods in the Otherworld. No one questions them without suffering some form of punishment. I am bound by a promise as strong as any spell, I can't break it and it controls me… it even makes it hard for me to tell you these things now. I am a slave, Sumire, I am a pawn of the Council." She hesitated and breathed slowly, "The people I've killed were all enemies of the Council, members of a rebel terrorist group that has been threatening the Academy."

"I'm supposed to believe that Professor Kimura was a terrorist?" Sumire scoffed angrily, she cursed and paced in the room. "I don't understand this."

"Kimura was an active member of the group… but h-" Lucia began to explain before Sumire cut her off.

"Wait, so all those times I was waiting for you when you brought me on missions… you were killing people?!" Sumire asked, suddenly more disgusted than terrified.

"No, I never brought you on an assassination… just information gathering and reconnaissance." Lucia claimed, trying to stand again.

Sumire glared at her, "So why are you finally telling me all of this now?"

Lucia looked out the window at the dark, overcast night sky. "Because something has gone wrong…" she murmured.

"What do you mean?" Sumire asked mechanically.

"I failed to kill one of my targets." Lucia said, "I defied the Council."

"Who was your target?" Sumire demanded.

"I can't say." Lucia replied, her resistance apparent in her torn expression. "But… I believe you're in danger." Lucia said, finally standing, "I promise, I'll protect you. You don't have to be afraid."

"The only thing I'm afraid of right now is you!" replied Sumire, "My roommate is a fucking demon assassin! How do I know you won't kill me if I end up on that list, huh?"

Lucia looked as if she'd been stabbed in the heart, the fact that she was covered in her own blood didn't help the image. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you…" Lucia replied sadly.

"Damnit Lucia, what kind of response did you expect? Did you think I'd just shrug and pretend like I was ok sleeping next to a murderer every night?" Sumire cried, throwing the book at the floor again.

Lucia suddenly grabbed Sumire's shoulder, "Look at me," she demanded, "I would never hurt you. No matter who told me too, I would never do anything like that to you. I refuse. Trust me."

"Why!?" Sumire asked, shaking Lucia's grasp off her. Lucia staggered to keep her balance, Sumire tried to disregard the fact that she was still injured. "Why should I trust you?!" She stepped away from Lucia, watching her warily, the fear and anger in her eyes crushed the Sorceress, and the sudden silence between them was suffocating.

"Because I need you too," Lucia replied quietly, her voice cracking as she spoke, "I'm begging you. You're the only person I have. I don't want to do these things, believe me, I don't. Even Sōichirō is trying to defy the Council, what will I do if he ends up on the list too? He's been like my father. I can't handle this on my own, Sumire." She fell to her knees and attempted to restrain her distress, but her struggle to keep herself from falling apart was obvious. Lucia, the one who had always seemed so strong, composed, and confident, even to the point of arrogance, was on her knees before Sumire. Was she truly begging? Sumire clenched her fists and looked at the door. Lucia had never struck her as the type to break down, and seeing her like this was more painful than it should have been. However, Sumire wouldn't allow herself to pity a murderer. But she couldn't help but wonder if Lucia was really a murderer or just a puppet. It was all too much to take in. Sumire considered just leaving the room and forgetting everything. With Lucia injured, she could finally run away. She could go all the way to the front gate and disappear into the woods. She stared at the exit, and then at Lucia, who was hunched over in a silent despair. How had it come to this?

"Fine then…" Sumire said almost silently. She knelt down beside Lucia, but was not sure if she should touch her. For reasons far beyond her own comprehension, she couldn't abandon the Sorceress. Although she hadn't noticed until now, somewhere along the line she'd begun to care too much. "I…I believe you, ok?" Lucia lifted her head and gazed at Sumire with the saddest yet most thankful expression she'd ever seen. Sumire only half-smiled, knowing she'd probably regret her choice later. "I guess it all kind of makes sense now, why you couldn't tell me for so long."

"I know I should have told you sooner…" Lucia whispered, "But…"

"What?" the girl asked.

"I never intended to drag you into all this and to put you in danger… I'm sorry." Lucia said, shaking her head and staring at the floor.

"It's nothing new, I'm always in some sort of danger." Sumire replied, perhaps trying to lighten the mood, she took Lucia's hand in her own, "And you always show up just in time to save me, so… I'm not afraid." Lucia looked startled, her cool hand pulled away quickly, she clutched her chest and gasped. "What is it?!" Sumire exclaimed.

"Something…when you touched me…" Lucia whispered, trying to quell the strange feeling in her chest, however, it wasn't the sharp pain, nor the binding punishment she felt before, but a smoldering, like embers burning behind her ribs."It felt… odd."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. It's probably because of the spell!" cried the younger girl, quite embarrassed and apologetic.

"Don't apologize…" Lucia replied, still rather awe-struck by the sensation, "I've never felt anything like it before." Although it burned, it didn't hurt. It made Lucia's entire body feel warm and light, like a great weight was lifted from her. With that small contact and rush of warmth, she felt like she was unstoppable, all her fears and doubts disappeared. Sumire had accepted her even though she knew the truth. She unexpectedly embraced the younger girl and pulled her tightly into her arms. "Thank you." She whispered.

Sumire was surprised and didn't understand the reason for the gratitude Lucia was showing, but she slowly hugged the Sorceress back. She began to think how nice it felt to be so close to Lucia, with her head against the Sorceress's shoulder. Somehow, despite everything she'd learned that night, she felt safe in Lucia's arms. "Sumire, I won't fail you. You'll be safe, no matter what the cost." Lucia said as she dropped her arms.

Sumire didn't have the words to respond, she simply didn't know how to. She wanted to believe Lucia, but she She meekly stepped back and nodded. However, as they separated, Sumire felt a dampness on her shirt. She peered down to see that her shirt was stained scarlet. She looked at the Sorceress and gasped, "You're bleeding again!"

Lucia gazed back at Sumire with a shocked expression, "Oh…how… unfortunate." She mumbled, her eyes rolling back in her head. She fell forward and Sumire caught her. She stumbled backwards in the process and fell onto the bed behind her. She was pinned to it, with the unconscious Sorceress on top of her.

"Lucia?" Sumire squeaked timidly, "Lu…cia?" The Sorceress was out cold, Sumire tried to lift Lucia off her gently. She rolled her onto her side and sat up, scrambling to find her phone. She called Sōichirō. A tired voice answered on the other end, "Nahashi, it's Sumire. Lucia is…Lucia is hurt!"

It didn't take Nahashi more than three minutes to cross the campus and get into the girl's dorm. No sooner than Sumire had moved Lucia into a more comfortable position on the bed had he arrived at the door. Sumire was sitting next to the bed with her legs crossed, drumming her fingers against her knee nervously and staring at the Sorceress.

"It's not a fatal cut…but… there is an interesting spell on her." Sōichirō observed, laying his hands over the Sorceress and startling Sumire by his voice. She had been so lost in thought as she looked at Lucia that she'd nearly forgot about his presence. "Very, very…interesting."

"Can you fix it?" asked Sumire.

"I'm not very good with spells," Sōichirō said. Before Sumire realized, he had already cleaned and stitched the wound quickly and was changing Lucia into clean pajamas. Sumire averted her eyes. He carefully checked over the unconscious girl once more for any other injuries."You know magic has always been this one's specialty." He gestured towards Lucia.

"Well, do you have an idea what have I done? It didn't even keep her injury shut like it was supposed to." Sumire responded. Sōichirō blinked and stared at Sumire for a moment, probably unable to believe that the powerful and mysterious spell was the work of a mortal girl. He shook his head and shrugged slightly.

"In all honesty, I can't even tell. This is not typical demon magic." Sōichirō replied, sleepily again. "Did she tell you how she got hurt?"

"…Just that she got ambushed." Sumire answered.

"I should probably inform the Council." Mumbled the Dean, rising and rubbing his eyes, "It seems something has gone wrong, and they should be on alert." He lightly patted the distressed human girl on the head, "Will you watch over this girl until she is awake again?"

"You're going to leave me alone with her?" Sumire exclaimed.

"I am hesitant, but things need to be done. And I think she'll be ok now," Sōichirō said, moving toward the door, "Please call me if her condition changes, as I said, I don't know what results the spell you put on her will have… but at least the wound will remain closed now."

"But what if it doesn't, what if the stitches open up and she starts to bleed to death again?!" exclaimed Sumire.

Sōichirō chuckled, "It's good to see you're developing a caring relationship with my Lucia. Those mendings should hold up, but you have my number and can call me if anything goes wrong. Goodnight."

He left without a sound and Sumire blushed, not know how to reply to Sōichirō's mention of a "relationship". Sumire studied the Sorceress for a moment. Now it looked as if she were merely sleeping peacefully with a serene expression on her face. One would never be able to believe by looking at her that she was actually a murderous demon. How could this girl, this lovely, talented girl, be an assassin? Sumire couldn't understand it, what kind of hold did the council have over Lucia to order her to do such things? Remarkably, Sumire didn't feel as if she were in any danger sitting there next to the Sorceress. Sumire stared at her own hand for a moment, pondering about Lucia's surprising reaction to her touch. Lucia had never hugged her like that, and the young girl hadn't expected to enjoy it so much.

Sumire slowly reached forward, outstretching her hand over the sleeping Sorceress and gently placing it above Lucia's wound. The Sorceress didn't stir much, but Sumire could feel the heat of her fingers transferring warmth to Lucia's cool skin. However, it didn't sting like it had earlier. A smile slowly crept across Lucia's face and she murmured something unintelligible. Sumire debated on pulling her hand back before Lucia woke up, but left her hand there; waiting to feel Lucia's slow heartbeat. She closed her eyes, happy that no one else was in the room to see her do such a weird thing. She didn't know why she wanted to touch Lucia, nor why the steady beating of the Sorceress's heart made her feel so calm. She laid her head on the bed, leaning over and leaving her hand where it was. She focused only on the rhythmic pulsation beneath her palm. Like a sweet song, the soft beating lulled her to sleep.

The Sorceress awoke to the sensation of something vibrating in her pocket. She sat up and reached into it, pulling out her phone and reading the seven missed messages she'd received. One stated that the Council was holding a meeting at noon, and demanded that she attend. Lucia sighed, wondering how exactly she had ended up in her bed. Then she spotted Sumire, slouched over in her chair, resting her head on the side of the bed. Faint memories of the night before filled Lucia's mind. Lucia put her hand on Sumire's head and ran her fingers through the girl's soft, red hair. "Leave it to you to mess up an elementary spell…" Lucia touched her chest and wondered what Sumire had done. Her wound longer hurt; there were no sharp pains, no throbbing, and similar to the night before, she still felt like something had been released inside her. Was that an affect of the spell? She decided there wasn't much she could do anyway, and besides, a spell done by a mortal with no skills couldn't have that much of an impact. She smiled at the sleeping girl, "Thank you for staying by my side all night."

Sumire didn't move, she continued to sleep quietly. Lucia wondered if she should move the young girl onto the bed, her position looked very uncomfortable. However, Lucia imagined that waking the girl up now would wreck her sweet demeanor and put her in a bad mood. Still, she didn't like looking at Sumire sleeping in such a weird way. Lucia got out of bed and stood beside Sumire, then reached down and picked the sleeping girl up. Sumire mumbled something in her sleep, then wrapped her arms around Lucia's neck as the Sorceress carried her to her own bed. Lucia laid Sumire down and glanced over the sleeping girl. Lightly, she touched Sumire's cheek, and to her surprise, the sleeping girl nuzzled against it. Lucia could feel it again, the slightest warmth in her chest. It was nowhere near the heat she'd felt the night before, today, it ached, it hurt as if a fire was searing her heart. Despite the strange pain, her fingers carefully stroked Sumire's neck and traced her collarbone. Her skin was so soft and warm, the Sorceress felt as if she'd melt if she continued this contact. "I must be a masochist…" murmured Lucia, ashamed as she took her hand away, "It hurts to be so close to you and yet I can't stay away." She stared down at the chaste sleeping girl. Without thinking, she leaned down towards Sumire and gently kissed her collarbone, the girl moaned in her sleep. Lucia sat up quickly, cursing herself for not being in control of her actions. "What the hell am I doing?" she growled, grabbing her bag. She hastily left the room before she could do anything else to the sleeping girl.

------

Pale, cold, motionless; the body lay in the middle of the empty courtyard. The moonlight streamed through the trees and onto the path where she emerged, breathless. A cool fall breeze gusted through her hair, whipping it about her panicked face as she ran towards the body. She collapsed to her knees and stared in horror at the girl who lay on the ground before her. She quickly picked her up and cradled her, taking in what she saw. The girl's once rosy cheeks and lush lips had gone colorless, gray like stone; her skin was like ice, as if winter embodied had kissed her skin and turned it to frost. Cautiously, like she was handling a porcelain toy, she shifted the body in her arms and began searching desperately for any sign of life. She listened for breath but was only greeted by silence, she felt for a pulse but the blood no longer flowed through the veins. She pressed her ear to the other girl's breast where she heard a quiet heartbeat; so faint, she wondered if it was her mind playing tricks on her in her frantic anticipation to discover that her partner was still alive. Nevertheless, it was there, that slow, almost silent beating. Buh-dum, Buh-dum…Buh-dum… buh- But the sound, so miraculous and relieving at first, was already fading as well, faltering until it would stop entirely.

"Please," begged the girl as she held the body, "… No… don't leave me! Please wake up!" But she knew that her pleas were falling on deafened ears. "I need you..." Tears streamed down her cheeks and before long she'd begun sobbing despairingly. She pulled the body close and hugged it into her own chest as she continued to plead with the gods, any god at all, to spare her friend. It was futile, this girl had no chance now; her heart had already stopped beating.

Sumire's eyes shot open, she was breathing heavily and clenching the sheets around her tightly in her fists. She stared at the ceiling, trying to calm herself and breathe regularly again. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and soaking into the pillow beneath her head. It was the same nightmare she'd been having since she arrived at Venus Academy, the one she'd normally forget as soon as she awoke. She wiped her cheeks and sat up slowly, wondering what such a distressing nightmare meant. She looked over at Lucia's empty bed and panicked, the Sorceress was gone again.

------

* * *

Infamous dream sequence. muaahahha. ok ok --- keep reading

and review!


	7. Chapter 6: Dance With Me

read&review

* * *

The water was like ice. Lucia shivered and ran her slender fingers through her silver-blue hair. The locker-room showers were never very warm, but today they were exceptionally cold. She didn't dare risk showering in her own room with Sumire sleeping so near, she was losing the will and ability to control her actions; she wanted the human girl. The desire to sully the innocent girl wasn't something a regular demon could ignore for very long, luckily Lucia was no common demon. Still, the fact that she'd lasted this long a miracle in itself. However, it was not an achievement she could be proud of; recently, Lucia was mocked with another title; "Pet". She groaned, it seemed everyone knew about her feelings towards Sumire except the young girl herself, and thus, Lucia was becoming one to be pitied and ridiculed. A demon who couldn't even seduce a human. The pipes creaked and the water dropped another couple of degrees in temperature, forcing Lucia out of her thoughts. _'Damned showers…' _she cursed, quickly rinsing the soap from her hair. At least she was clean again, the scent of blood and failure washed down the drains, and the freezing water woke her up and cleared her mind. She turned the shower off, chilling beads of water trickled down her porcelain skin as she stood naked in the empty locker room. She couldn't think about trivial things now, the Council was waiting for her.

Lucia travelled across the campus and into the main hall. Once inside, she passed professors' offices and meeting rooms, quickly glancing at the demons within each room and wondering if any of them were her future targets. Some greeted her as she walked by; others just stared at her coldly as if they knew what she was thinking. She climbed the grand marble staircase to the second floor and made her way to the Council room at the end of the hall. She pushed open the large wooden doors, walked into the room, and slouched into a small chair in front of the 10 members who made up the Council.

"Nahashi Lucia, do you have something to report?" asked one of the members, looking down on her from his podium. It was Shibata Ryuu, the fire elemental and most rowdy member of the council. He crossed his arms and put his hand under his red stubbled chin. Although it was true that every council member was extraordinarily attractive, Lucia thought that Shibata looked like a smug idiot.

"You know I do, otherwise you wouldn't have called me here," mumbled Lucia, tossing her hair over her shoulder. They all gasped, even Lucia was suddenly surprised by her own response. She'd never spoken to the Council so impertinently.

"You will address us with respect, Nahashi." Demanded the Council president in a gruff tone, "Sit up." Unlike Shibata, President Fugihara was a demon to be feared and respected. His narrow gaze and scornful expression made even the normally composed Lucia shift uncomfortably.

Lucia did as she was ordered, but did not rephrase her sentence, "Insolent brat…" hissed one of the females, hiding her gleaming cobalt eyes behind long silver hair. This 'Tsurara-onna', an ice-elemental, was known as Ishikawa Rin. Although she had a young, beautiful face, she was the oldest in the group by three hundred and twelve years. However, this was a common trait of the Council members, being demi-gods in the Otherworld, her seniority didn't seem like more than a few months in the eyes of these powerful demons. Along with being the oldest, Lucia also saw her as the cruelest and most annoying council member.

"Proceed." Said the President, "Your targets were Kimura, the teacher; Ohayashi, the reporter; and Kichida, the politician. Are they all taken care of?"

"No." replied Lucia directly, leaning back in her chair as the members gasped again, "There was some trouble."

"What do you mean?" inquired a soft voice from the childlike demon seated beside Fugihara. Although he looked quite young and gentle, Lucia knew that fox demon, Moriko Naoya, was the most cunning and deceitful demon in the room. He looked down on her with emotionless eyes. He had single-handedly picked the targets Lucia had been sent to kill. He was tactful, intelligent, and terrifying, thus Fugihara regarded him as his most trusted advisor.

"Did they escape?" cried another female known as Aoki Yuuna, an Ameonna, and the only Spirit in the group. Around her, the whole Council began to murmur anxiously.

"Yes, what kind of trouble?" asked the President, silencing the rest of them immediately.

Lucia stood up and unzipped her jacket to reveal the wound on her chest, "Ohayashi was simple to take down and Kichida was terminated, but Kimura resisted and escaped... twice."

"Insolent fool!" exclaimed Ishikawa, "Can you do nothing right?"

"How could you let this happen!?" wailed an outraged Nekomusume called Miura Nami, "They were all simple demons to dispose of, Kimura was an elderly teacher. He couldn't have put up that much of a fight." Lucia was getting angry; Miura was one of Ishikawa's closest friends, though rumors around school had suggested a more intimate relationship between the two women. If only because of her relationship with Ishikawa, she had immediately detested Lucia and constantly agreed with the ice-elemental. Because of this, she always tended to say the foolish things that pissed Lucia off.

"If they are so simple, if they pose no threat, why am I sent to kill them? Certainly you could do it on your own." retorted Lucia, crossing her arms, still amazed at herself for being able to address the members in such a way. She'd never dreamt of being so discourteous, but was more than enjoying it. Miura's ears twitched at the unexpected response, the Sorceress continued, "Besides, it couldn't be helped. I was ambushed by a rebel force. How did you think I got this wound? One demon alone could not hurt me… but seven can be a problem."

"You should have fought harder; with your powers you could've killed them all." Said Ishikawa, with a scowl on her suddenly jagged, frozen face.

"…I couldn't fight them like that." Lucia said, "Five of them were children."

"You couldn't take children down? What kind of incompetence is that?!" howled Shibata, throwing back his spikey red-haired head and laughing loudly.

"I wasn't about to murder children!" stated Lucia, "They are only following their elders orders, they're innocent."

"You're just a fool and a weakling." Said Miura with a scoff.

"I'm neither, and I can prove it right now if you want." Growled Lucia, clenching her fists.

"Is that a threat?" cried the silver-haired ice elemental, "Isolent girl!"

"Insolent? Is that the only insult you know?" replied Lucia, not standing down.

"How dare you!" yelled Ishikawa.

"Enough!" declared the President, leering at Lucia. "You know the rules, Nahashi. Any rebel is a threat to the peace of the Otherworld and is hereby condemned to death; they must be disposed of no matter the age. A child will only grow up, after all. It will be easier to take them down now."

"That's ridicu-!" Lucia began.

"That's the law!" yelled Fugihara with a booming voice, rising from his seat. Everyone was silent. Lucia glared at the floor and spoke no more. "Now then," he said, glancing over the members and sighing as he sat again, "What do you intend to do about this mess you've made?"

"I'll take care of it." Mumbled the Sorceress.

"You better." Warned the President.

"Is there any other news?" one of the less outspoken members inquired, the kind Takata Hijo. He was a laid back water demon with a wrinkly face and a jovial smile that always relaxed the Sorceress. Lucia shook her head. "But what of the Demon Princess?"

"There has been no sign her for months now, she seems to have disappeared from this world." Lucia replied, "It has been determined that she is no longer a threat."

"Good, good." Said the President, leaning back in his chair, "You are dismissed, Nahashi." Lucia nodded and began to leave, but the president spoke again. "Ah, wait Lucia. What of my granddaughter?"

Lucia paused and turned back to face him obediently, "She's made an impression on the students."

"Keep an eye on her, nothing can happen to that girl. You understand?" The President said.

"Yes…" Lucia answered.

The President raised his eyebrow, "And that special target I gave you, I trust it's been taken care of?"

She flinched, that was a question Lucia had been hoping to avoid. She tentatively shook her head. "…No." Lucia stated.

"Why not?!" bellowed Fugihara, "I gave you a direct order!" There was silence again, aside from Shibata chuckling softly because Lucia was being scolded. Lucia stiffened, she didn' t care that it was an order, it wasn't right to murder people because she was told to.

"That target did nothing wrong." Lucia replied, "There is no evidence of rebel actions, nor any hostility towards the Council. That target poses no threat to the Otherworld and has been permitted to live."

"You don't have the authority to make such choices." Growled the President, "You cannot disobey a direct order."

"No, Fugihara, you don't have the authority. Who gave you such power?" Said Lucia; suddenly, her reluctance was gone. "You are not a god, no matter how much you wish to be."

The President snarled, clutching his podium with such rage the wood began to crack. "You will do as I order you!"

"I refuse." Lucia answered, glaring up at the President. "Even when ordered, I cannot bring myself to take the life of an obviously innocent person. I am done doing your dirty work." The President's face turned red with fury as Lucia turned away and opened the door to leave the room.

"You can't talk like that!" shouted Shibata, pounding his fists on his podium, "Don't show your back to us!"

"You worthless thing!" cried Ishikawa, "After everything we've done for you."

"Disgusting wretch, you don't even belong here." Added Moriko is a cold voice, leering at her with his large, child-like eyes.

"You will pay for your impudence." Promised the President, clenching his teeth angrily.

"I'm counting on it." Lucia replied, "I'm not afraid of you anymore."

She made her way into the corridor and left the main hall hurriedly, she didn't want to spend another second being yelled at in that dim room. Lucia had finally stood up to the Council and had never felt better, though the entire time it felt as if her eye was going to explode in it's socket. She knew she'd face hell for it, but was prepared for anything they'd throw at her.

"Nahashi!" called a deep voice, "Hey, Nahashi!"

Lucia groaned and stopped walking, she turned to discover the old water-elemental had followed her from the Council room, "Did they send you to chase me down Takata?"

Takata laughed, shaking his head, "No, young lady. I came to congratulate you. I've been waiting for you to stand up to those bastards since you came here."

"What do you mean?" Lucia asked, "You're one of them."

"Oh hardly, they keep me around because I'm from the original Council." Chuckled Takata, "But they don't give a damn what I think or say."

"I see, is that all you wanted then? Good day." Lucia said, turning to leave.

"Well, actually, I wanted to know if your eye is alright. You should be careful what you say to the Council, or you'll lose it you know." Takata advised, "That's a powerful curse you have on you."

"How did you know about tha-?" Lucia began to ask.

"I may look like I'm sleeping through all the meetings, but I know a lot more than you'd think. I'm well aware of everything that is going on." Takata claimed, a solemn expression crossing his wrinkly face, "I'm happy you finally stood up for yourself… but you will face punishment for it. You might even lose your p-"

"That's enough, I don't need you to tell me what I already know. I don't care what happens to me, I refused to do what the Council asked, and I know the price I must pay for it." Lucia replied, "I'm mature enough to accept that… but don't think I won't go down without a fight."

"I know." Takata said.

"Well, thanks for your concern, but I should probably go." Lucia murmured, not wanting to talk to the old man anymore.

"Wait, wait. You're a restless thing aren't you?" Takata said, "I came to help you… and to warn you that you are wrong about the Demon Princess."

"How do you know that?" Lucia asked the old demon.

He chuckled again, "I can't explain, not here. Meet me later tonight, while everyone is at the celebration."

"I don't know…" Lucia said, looking over the old man. "What are you planning?"

"Suspicious of me, are you?" he asked, shaking his head, "Lucia, if you believe anything I say today, believe that I am a friend."

"Fine, I will find you tonight." Lucia murmured, shrugging.

"Oh good!" cheered the old man, waving as Lucia stalked out of the building. "And be careful of that devil eye of yours!"

Lucia wasn't sure if she'd actually go find Takata, but didn't see how it would hurt. She didn't think the old man was capable of deceiving her, she sighed, and he was probably the only one she could trust in the whole council. As she went down the steps outside, Sumire ran up to her, panting. Immediately, she threw her arms around Lucia and hugged her tightly.

"I woke up and you were gone again, I was worried!" exclaimed the young girl, nuzzling against Lucia.

"Worried?" Lucia replied, blushing with surprise. She returned the hug, no longer thinking of the unpleasant elders but the girl she held in her arms, "Why?"

"You're injured, idiot." Said Sumire with a scowl, not wanting to mention the terrible nightmare, "You can't just go wandering off with a big gash on your chest like that." In reality, Sumire was just happy to see her alive, and as they embraced, Sumire could feel the subtle beating of Lucia's heart, reassuring her that it was just a nightmare.

"It's fine, it's all sewn up and I heal fast." Lucia said, smiling lightly, "Though you flinging yourself at me didn't help much." Sumire blushed and let go.

"I wasn't flinging myself… I just tripped and fell into you by accident, geez." Sumire lied, backing away. She hadn't really realized that she was hugging Lucia until the Sorceress mentioned it. She decided it was simply because she was just so relieved that Lucia was all right. "Just, be careful from now on, ok?"

Lucia sighed and shook her head, "You know me better than that."

"True…" groaned Sumire, "Are you going to the celebration later?"

"I have some things to take care of first. So, probably not, unless I make it back in time." The Sorceress decided aloud, and to her surprise, the young girl seemed disappointed. Lucia hadn't forgotten the spell Sumire cast on her, nor the bizarre heat she felt in her chest when they touched, an now she ached to see the girl so disheartened. "Did you want me to take you?" Lucia asked.

Sumire shook her head, "Well, you know I'm going with Alice… "

"Oh… right. Alice." groaned Lucia, trying to hide the fact that she was now disappointed as well.

"I think you should come though, relax for a bit and enjoy yourself." Sumire suggested, "And who knows… I might be able to break away from Alice for a little while." Sumire smiled, "Please promise you'll come for at least one dance. It would be fun."

"Fun, you say? I don't know.." Lucia shrugged and Sumire pouted. "Ah, fine, I promise." Lucia said, realizing she simply couldn't deny Sumire. The word "Pet" echoed in her mind and she flinched. "Well, I should go. Be safe, have fun, don't do anything you'll regret." Lucia took Sumire's hand in her own, "For my sake?"

Sumire recalled the night before and blushed as she took her hand back. "Ok..." Lucia began to walk away before Sumire called out to her, "Hey Lucia!" Lucia turned around slowly and looked at Sumire. "Be careful too… please. I don't know what I'll do if you come back bleeding again."

"Hopefully you won't put another mysterious spell on me." Lucia replied with a sly smile.

"I really was trying to stop the bleeding!" cried Sumire, suddenly feeling guilty of something.

"I'm kidding, I don't think it had any long term affect on me… I think." Lucia laughed, "Have a good day!"

"I will, thank you." Sumire replied.

"Thank you for caring." Lucia said with a grin.

"Don't get cocky!" Sumire exclaimed, "It's just 'cause… yah know, 'cause you're my roommate."

"I didn't think anything else of it." Lucia claimed, "But what are you thinking to make you feel as if you need to explain?"

"N-nothing." Sumire said, turning red and remembering Lucia's unexpected embrace the night before. Lucia was acting no differently than usual, maybe it didn't mean all that much to her? Then she wondered if she'd dreamt it, which bothered her even more. She didn't want to start having to deal with Lucia's teasing in her dreams as well. "I'll see you later." She walked away maladroitly as Lucia laughed and waved.

Each step away felt more difficult than the last, she wanted to go back to Sumire, if only to talk a little longer. Lucia huffed, "I'm pathetic." She imagined a collar around her neck and a leash that stretched all the way back to Sumire's hand; it only got tighter the further she went. She shook her head and muttered to herself, "Idiot, you did this to yourself."

---

Sumire tore apart her closet trying to find the perfect dress for the dance. She called Kari and invited her to her room to get ready. The two girls tried on different outfits and discussed the exciting events that were about to take place.

"So, you're really going with Alice tonight." Kari whispered, looking at herself in the mirror and playing with her skirt. Sumire nodded as she pulled another shirt over her head to try on. "Is it a date?"

"What?!" Sumire said, hopping around the room as she tried to put tights on, "I mean, do you think it is?"

"Well, this is the sort of thing couples go to." Kari replied, "Maybe if Lucia comes back it could be like a double date." Sumire must have made a foreboding expression because Kari quickly added, "Does that idea bother you?"

Sumire ignored the unwanted jealousy she felt and tried to laugh off her reaction as if it were nothing. "Why would that bother me? You can go with Lucia, it's not like I care."

"That's not what I was referring too, I thought you made that face cause you didn't want me interrupting your date with Alice… but now that you mention it, are you sure you wouldn't be resentful if I asked Lucia?"

"I told you before… she's not my type." Sumire shrugged, thinking '_She probably won't make it back in time anyway… even though she promised.'_

"Yea, but that was before girls became your type." Kari pointed out.

"I'm not like that! It's just… Alice is an exception. She's more like a Prince anyway."

"Yea, because her long, flowing blonde hair and C cup chest are totally masculine traits." Kari laughed.

"I really didn't have much of a choice… you saw those boys." Sumire added.

"Hey, you don't have to explain it to me. I like girls too." Kari said, chuckling.

"I don't like girls!" cried Sumire, "Just l-…Alice!" She knew she'd messed up right away, but she was determined it was only because they had been talking about Lucia before. Kari didn't buy it.

Kari's grin faded, "Did you just say 'Lalice'?"

"No." Sumire claimed, "Alice, I said Alice."

"Right." Kari replied, walking away from the mirror. "I'm serious about asking Lucia though."

"Good for you." Sumire whispered, trying on a short black dress, then realizing it was Lucia's and it had been hung in her closet by mistake. Although, she'd never actually seen Lucia wear it, it was too revealing for the Sorceress's rather modest tastes.

"Tonight is actually… an important night, I think. I really want to dance with her and see if I can win her heart." Kari said.

"Really? I didn't realize you liked her that much." Sumire murmured, twirling in the Sorceress's dress. It smelled like Lucia and made Sumire feel light headed. She looked at herself in the mirror, such a dress didn't suit Sumire, she didn't have the chest to fill it out and it was too dark for her pinkened complexion. Still, she found herself imagining Lucia in it instead, with the short skirt, the slit up to the top of her thigh, and the corset that tied in the back and pushed up her chest to expose her cleavage. It made Sumire flush immediately; certainly, this dress was only the sort of thing Lucia could pull off.

Kari sighed and shrugged, "I was caught between Lucia and Alice… but I realized Lucia is basically perfect for me." She suddenly blushed, "She's the type of person I always imagined sharing my forever kiss with."

"Forever kiss?" Sumire repeated, confused, "Is that a spell or something?"

"You know, it's comparable to the last first kiss you ever have except it means a lot more, the Forever Kiss is the one you share with the person you are destined to spend the rest of your life with -or eternity with for demons. You promise yourselves to each other and seal it with a kiss." Kari answered giddily, "In the Otherworld, it's more binding than any spell. And unlike marriage in the human world, it is everlasting. Two demons that share a Forever Kiss never separate." Sumire didn't say anything, she didn't have anything to say. She didn't know how to feel about Kari's crush on Lucia, if it could be called a crush rather than an obsession or infatuation, or maybe even "love". Sumire imagined sharing such a kiss with Alice someday and shrugged, she certainly didn't mind the thought.

However, Sumire didn't entirely approve of Lucia sharing a forever kiss with Kari. As much as she liked both of them, she couldn't see them together as a couple. _'Kari is sweet, but Lucia needs someone more like_-', she flushed when she unintentionally pictured herself. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she took off Lucia's dress and pulled out a dark green one that she found in the back of her closet. Timidly, she changed out of Lucia's dress and laid it on the bed. Kari glanced at Sumire when she finished dressing, "That one looks cute on you." She said simply.

"You think so?" Sumire said, spinning around. Kari grinned and nodded.

"It goes great with your eyes." Kari observed.

"Really? Lucia always says that my eyes are the loveliest shade of green and that-" Sumire's voice trailed off sadly as she looked at Kari, who was wearing a beautiful purple dress; Lucia's favorite color. "I guess it doesn't matter what she says," Sumire decided, "as long as Alice will think the same tonight. Do you think Alice will like it?" Kari nodded. Sumire sighed as she looked at the girl again and said, "That dress is perfect."

"Yea?" Kari said joyfully, skipping around the room. "Great!" Sumire wondered if Lucia would actually show up, and how she would react to Kari asking her to the dance. Lucia had been flirting a lot with other girls lately, especially when Sumire was around. She didn't want it to, but it was beginning to bother Sumire. She knew that the Sorceress would not turn down a dance with Kari, she was too cute, yet she wondered if Lucia would still want to dance with her too. For a moment, and only a short moment at that, Sumire felt very lonely. She shook it off and walked up to Kari, who was looking in the mirror. Sumire studied her own reflection, trying to decide where to wear her hair up or down.

"What do you think, Kari? Should I leave it down, like this?" Sumire dropped her red hair, it fell just below her chin, "Or this, up and out of the way." She collected it in her hand and put the hair in a makeshift up-do. She looked at Kari curiously.

"Well…you can leave it down because your hair is so short, I think. If you had longer hair, I'd say to tie it up." Kari said, stepping closer to Sumire. "I may be biased, but I always think it's sexier when the girls' neck is exposed." She lifted her pale hand and traced Sumire's neck with one finger. "Much more... appealing." She was looking at Sumire with a strange expression now, almost wantingly, hungrily.

Sumire laughed and teased, "You're not coming onto me, are you Kari?"

Kari chuckled in response and winked, "I already told you, you don't suit my tastes."

An hour later, when the girls had finished their hair and makeup, there was a faint knock on the door. Kari went and opened it to find Alice with her lovely blonde hair tied with a dark blue bow into a low ponytail. She was dressed in a beautiful gray and blue embroidered coat, a ruffled white shirt, and Victorian necktie. She grinned as she checked out Sumire and leaned on the doorframe, "My, my, don't you look stunning." She gestured to her own outfit, "I decided to dress the part of your Prince this evening, I hope you don't mind. I was going to wear a dress too, but as I promised… I would not wear anything to potentially steal your spotlight. I want to show_ you_ off tonight." Alice said, touching Sumire's cheek. "But you're so lovely, thinking of anyone else seeing you makes me a bit jealous." She stepped into the room, taking Sumire's hand and guiding her into the center. "So, how about it, my Princess? Shall we depart?" She twirled the girl around gracefully. "Or would you rather just stay in this room and enjoy each other's presence all night?" Sumire blushed as Alice twirled her and caught her in her arms. She put finger under Sumire's chin and lifted it so the young girl's eyes met her gaze. "What do you say?"

Sumire melted. She didn't even know how to reply, a dance would be fun, but being alone with Alice all night was a tempting offer. It would be a great chance to get to know the air-elemental. Sumire realized, however, that she wouldn't even know what to do if she were alone with Alice, would they simply talk and have tea? Or did Alice have something else in mind? Unexpectedly, a dirty image crossed Sumire's mind and her ears turned red. No, Alice wasn't the type to do that sort of thing. She was too polite and sophisticated. More importantly, she wasn't like Lucia. Kari shook her head, reading Sumire's entire thought process through her expressions and trying to figure out if Sumire was truly that innocent, or just really stupid. Alice leaned toward Sumire, "Well?"

"Geez, it's getting hot in here." Kari interjected, smiling sweetly at Alice though she'd ruined the intimate moment, "Miss Fugihara, Sumire can't miss the celebration, she's never been to a party in the Otherworld before."

Alice hadn't even noticed Kari's presence, and was a bit startled, but she stepped back from Sumire and laughed, "Ah, of course, of course. Then I want to be the first person to escort you to one. We should go, my Princess." She took Sumire's hand again and escorted her out of the room, "We can always go back to my room later tonight." Kari followed them out of the room with a sly smirk.

It seemed like the entire Academy was there, all the demon girls were laughing and dancing around the giant bonfire in the center of the campus. Sumire wasn't sure if she imagined it, but she swore she saw several bottles of sake exchange hands as they made their way through the group. This was a more lively party than she anticipated. The chaperones seemed distracted, none of them looked like they really wanted to be there. They were huddled with their backs to the bonfire, chatting, drinking, and ignoring the students entirely. Though some of the boys attended, most of them lingered on the edges of the group, trying to keep their noses from bleeding and their pants from stretching as they watched the girls' bodies grinding against each other. Sumire moved uneasily with her hand in Alice's. She looked at Kari, who seemed to be enjoying the surroundings, "What is this, an orgy?"

"We don't get to party much here, so when we get the chance, we party hard." Kari shouted over the music, nudging against Sumire as they moved through the crowd. Some spell casters began shooting off what looked like fireworks, lighting up the smoky sky.

"Fugihara!?" a girl cried excitedly, "Will you dance with me?"

Alice smiled politely, but shook her head, "I've got a date this evening. But if it's alright by her, you can come find me later for a slow song."

Sumire laughed nervously, she didn't want to seem like the jealous kind of date that clung to her escort all evening. "Alice can dance with whomever she likes." The girl squealed and ran off, waving and saying she'd see Alice later. Suddenly the air-elemental pulled Sumire into her arms.

"I like you best, Sumire." Alice whispered, "I'd rather stay with you all night." Sumire blushed. They finally reached the fire; Sumire could feel the heat on her face before she even saw it.

"Be right back, I'm gonna go see if I can find us some sake." Kari called as she squeezed through a couple of girls and went off in the opposite direction.

Sumire watched her go, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. "If you are uncomfortable, we can just go someplace else and forget about the party." Alice suggested, pulling Sumire close again so she wouldn't get carried away by the crowd. In the fire's glow, Alice seemed to resonate light. Sumire liked her, she couldn't help it. Kari had pointed out her arrogance and Sumire still felt hopelessly attracted to her. She knew there was more to Alice Fugihara than she had led them all to believe, beneath that flirtatious, confident exterior was something deeper. In reality, she and Lucia were a lot more alike than they knew. The thumping rhythm faded and a slow song began to play. Alice bowed slowly, she lifted her head to reveal her dazzling smile, "Dance with me, Sumire."

"AH! Fugihara!" yelled a familiar voice from the crowd, "It's the slow song you mentioned!" Suddenly, a bunch of squealing girls were surrounding her. Alice stood up and was instantaneously dragged away by the excited group of girls. She politely said that she was busy, she even struggled, but it was no use, she disappeared into the crowd. Sumire was alone, but she chuckled, it was her own fault for granting permission. She wandered around the fire, finding a bench and a half-full bottle of sake. Sumire was never the type to drink, but she felt like she needed it. She took a swig and relaxed on the bench, staring into the fire. Five songs went by, and she'd nearly finished the bottle but wasn't really feeling like it had much of an affect. She sighed, maybe it was a special demon rice wine and didn't affect humans. Another slow song began to play. Alice hadn't returned, Sumire decided she probably wasn't coming back. She certainly was popular; a girl of her status probably deserved someone better than Sumire anyway. Sumire set the bottle down and stood up, planning to just go back to her room and sleep off her disappointment.

"I didn't expect to find you alone." Whispered a voice from behind Sumire. She spun around to see Lucia standing in the fire's light. She was wearing the black dress Sumire had tried on earlier, and as Sumire had imagined, it fit her perfectly. She was beyond stunning, Sumire felt her heart flutter in her chest. Perhaps the sake was finally taking affect, but right before Sumire's eyes the 'Dark Prince' became a 'Princess.'

"I thought you had a mission or something." Sumire said, trying not to give away how happy she was to see the Sorceress.

"Well… I came here as part of it." Lucia answered, "I'm here to ensure safety mostly, rebel activities are bound to take place when the guard is down. And I heard from a… seemingly reliable source… that some shady characters could be in attendance tonight."

"You're the only shady character I see," taunted Sumire with a playful smile, although she wondered if Lucia was serious.

"Ha, cute as ever." Lucia mumbled, shaking her head as she watched Sumire nervously scan the crowd for anyone who actually looked suspicious. "You're safe, I'm here." Lucia assured Sumire, chuckling, "I'll protect you tonight."

"But what about the Council, won't they be mad?" Sumire asked, Lucia shrugged. "Why are you really here?"

"Because… I made a promise." Lucia replied, putting out her hand slowly, as if, for once in her life, she was unsure of herself. "May I have this dance?"

Sumire's breath caught, yet she put her hand in Lucia's without hesitation. The burning feeling in Lucia's chest had returned as soon as she touched Sumire, but it only made her want to hold the girl closer. Lucia guided the younger girl into her arms gently, putting one hand on the small of her back and holding the other.

Suddenly, they were twirling. The young girl had never imagined Lucia to be a dancer, but she led Sumire with ease. "You're pretty graceful, Sumire." Lucia murmured.

"You say that like your surprised, I-." Sumire replied, abruptly cutting herself off. She didn't know why she always tried to start fights with Lucia. This wasn't the time, she knew that. She wanted to enjoy at least one pleasant moment with the Sorceress. "…I think it's just because you're such a good leader." She whispered meekly. Lucia blushed, she hadn't expected a compliment and nearly lost her footing because of it. She spun Sumire away and then into her arms again, using the instant to think of something to say.

"You look beautiful tonight." Lucia whispered as she caught Sumire again. The Sorceress gasped when she realized her mistake, "Don't get me wrong, you're always beautiful but-"

"Oh stop, I'm not used to you being so nice." Sumire interrupted.

"I'm just being honest." Lucia laughed, "Look at me, I'm nervous! I never get nervous; tonight you really surprised me. I can't even be charming."

"You're always charming. Besides, I could say the same for you." Sumire replied softly, "That dress… I mean… wow." She couldn't think of any words. She giggled and her cheeks turned red.

Lucia laughed, "I'm glad you like it."

"I really do." The young girl stated, "a lot." Lucia smiled, not sure how to reply anymore. "I also like… this." Said Sumire, resting her head on Lucia's shoulder, "Being able to stand close to you, and talk to you without holding back."

Lucia paused, feeling rather stunned by Sumire's words. She continued the dance, yet she blushed, "…I do too." She said to the girl. "I have to be honest; I think that spell you messed up did something to me. I can't stop thinking about you, and it hurts to be near you like this… but I like it. I've never felt like this before."

"Can't we stay like this?" Sumire asked, nuzzling against Lucia's shoulder. The Sorceress's heart was racing and it felt as if her chest was on fire. "No more school, no more missions, we can forget everything and just stay together, always."

"What are you saying?" Lucia asked, standing back and gazing directly into Sumire's eyes, "What do you m-?" She saw it then, the emerald eyes that usually glistened so brightly were fogged over, her cheeks hadn't lost their redness and even her nose was tinted pink, and finally, Lucia could smell the sweet scent of rice wine on Sumire breath. Her heart sank and she let go of Sumire, "You're drunk, aren't you?"

"Psh, noooooo!" laughed Sumire, falling into Lucia's chest, "Let's keep dancing."

"No." Lucia said simply, returning to her cold self and holding Sumire back, "You can barely stand."

"I feel like I'm flying when you spin my around." Sumire mumbled, still staggering toward Lucia, "I don't want to come down yet."

"Sumire, you're going to knock us over." Lucia groaned, still trying to push Sumire back without hurting her. "Sumire, stop it!"

Sumire suddenly stopped and stared at Lucia with a hurt expression, "Why?" Tears were welling up in her eyes, "Why don't you like me, Lucia?"

"Huh?!" Lucia exclaimed, startled, "Wha-why are you crying! Don't cry!" Lucia only had to let down her guard for a second for Sumire to make her move. She wrapped her arms around the Sorceress's neck and kissed her passionately. Lucia was too shocked to move, but it felt as if the fire in her chest had exploded and spread throughout her whole body. She closed her eyes and only focused on the kiss before Sumire stepped back again.

The Sorceress opened her eyes slowly, the taste of sake lingered on her lips as the fire In her chest receded. The younger girl started laughing loudly, so hard she stumbled and fell over. Lucia knelt down and helped her up, "Wha- What's so funny?"

She giggled, "You're too easy to tease, Lucia."

Lucia was confused, "What do you mean?"

"I made you think that I meant those things!" laughed the drunken girl.

"So, this was all some joke to you?" Lucia murmured solemnly.

"Well, you tease me all the time, you know." Sumire giggled, "It's about time I got you back."

"You're a cruel drunk, Sumire." Stated the Sorceress, letting go of the younger girl.

"Psssh," Sumire said, turning away from Lucia, "You know you liked it."

"Yes, that's just the problem. I liked it too much." Lucia sighed, "This has gone too far."

"Whatcha gonna do about it?" Teased Sumire, unaware that Lucia was getting closer by the second.

"I could make you miserable…" Lucia suggested, putting her arms around Sumire. One arm wrapped around her neck, while the other held Sumire's waist. "I could just get my revenge for the rest of the semester," Her hand at Sumire's waist wandered down to the bottom of her dress and slowly began to drag it up, "I could do worse..."

"You wouldn't." Sumire gasped, "Not to a drunk girl."

"You asked for it." Lucia claimed, breathing against Sumire's neck, "You teased too much and now you have to pay the consequences." She gently nibbled the girl's ear.

"L-Lucia!" cried Sumire, struggling.

The Sorceress let go, "Seems like that was a pretty sobering experience."

"That wasn't funny!" Sumire yelled, her entire face flushed and her fists clenched, "Not one bit!"

"I thought it was." Lucia chuckled.

"You scared me." Sumire said, "I really thought you were gonna hurt me or something." Lucia paused and looked at Sumire solemnly.

"C'mon… you know I'd never do anything like that to you." Lucia said, staring down at her own feet. "Besides, you're the one who hurt me."

"It was a harmless joke, yours wasn't." replied Sumire, crossing her arms.

Lucia groaned, "I'm not apologizing, you deserved it." She glanced at her watch, "I don't even have time for this right now."

"Whatever." Scoffed Sumire, not looking at Lucia.

"I have things I should have been taking care of tonight." Lucia stated, stepping away.

"What do you mean? You're just gonna leave me here?" Sumire asked, trying to keep her balance. She couldn't even see straight anymore.

"Why don't you play that game you played with me, with Alice?" Lucia suggested coldly, "I'm sure she'd respond better."

"Luuuuuciaaaaaa…" whined the drunk girl, "Don't go. I don't want to be alone."

"I've got a job, I've wasted enough time as it is." Grumbled the Sorceress as she walked away, "It was a mistake to come here… Takata is probably still waiting for me."

"Fine, I'll just go find Alice. Maybe I will play that game, but I'll mean it with her!" yelled Sumire, to drunk to realize her statement didn't even make sense. She stood up and staggered into the crowd. She wandered around for a few minutes, calling out for the air-elemental, but didn't find her. She groaned and sat beneath a tree on the lawn, too intoxicated to care about the couple entwined together under a blanket around the other side. Her head was still swimming, but the sake was beginning to lose affect. She also began to regret her trick. Leading Lucia on like that was truly cruel, even compared to the things Lucia did. But, Lucia was a flirt anyway, so why did it bother her so much? Soon, the affects of the Sake wore off almost completely; she sighed and hugged her knees together; feeling rather lonely beneath the tree. She wondered why Alice had ditched her, but what made her feel even worse was that she was the reason Lucia had left. "I really messed up…"

Lucia grumbled as she walked through the courtyard towards the main hall, cursing herself for believing Sumire's words. She should have smelled the sake right away and realized why Sumire was acting like that. She groaned, '_I did know, I just wanted so hard to believe it was true…' _She was well aware that she'd set herself up to be let down, and really couldn't blame Sumire, especially in the state she was in. She hugged herself and shivered, she hadn't realized how cold it was until she was away from the fire and the crowds. Lucia pondered about going back and apologizing for overreacting, but decided it was pointless; Sumire was probably too drunk to know what was going on anyway. She felt badly for leaving Sumire stumbling around on her own. She got nervous, what if someone found her like that and took advantage of her? What if Alice- _'Alice…'_ she thought with an angry scoff; she had to return before that horny demon got her hands on Sumire_. 'Takata can wait.'_ She turned around and began to walk back in the direction of the party, but a figure stepped into her path.

"Lucia, I've been looking for you." Kari called, walking towards the Sorceress.

"Kari, it's good to see you, however, I can't talk right now." Lucia said, trying to step around the small girl. Kari blocked her path again.

"I wore this dress just for you, you know." Kari stated, twirling and showing off the dark purple gown.

"It looks lovely, but I've got to go find Sumire." Lucia maintained, trying to step around the other side of Kari, only to be stopped again.

"I saw you dancing with her already, that's not very fair." Kari said, "How about dancing with me for a little while?"

"Are you alright?" Lucia asked, studying Kari. She looked strange to Lucia; she couldn't quite place what was wrong though. Kari wasn't quite as pale as usual, she moved differently, and her eyes weren't pink, but much darker. Kari shook her head, "You're not drunk too, are you?"

"No. I've never really liked rice wine; I guess you could say I have a more refined taste." Kari replied, "But I am the one who put the bottle where Sumire would find it."

"Why?" Lucia asked, stepping back.

Kari looked like she was contemplating something, then she shrugged and said, "Because I knew she'd need it when Alice didn't come back for her."

"How did you know that?" Lucia inquired suspiciously, "Where has Alice gone?"

"Off with some friends. Dance with me, and I'll tell you which direction they went." Kari proposed,

"I don't have time for this." Lucia murmured, gently pushing Kari aside and walking by her. She smelt it then; not sake, it was a sour, yet sweet and potent scent. It was so strong it stung Lucia's nostrils and made her mouth taste like metal. She halted as soon as she recognized the scent and spun around to find Kari directly behind her. They were face to face; Lucia gasped, Kari grinned. All that Lucia saw next was the flickering of Kari's crimson eyes, the flash of fangs, and darkness, followed by an overpowering odor; the bitter, metallic scent of blood.

* * *

so my laptop bit the dust, that's why it took me so long to post these chapters. I had to re-type them both from memory.. which frankly, sucked, lol. I'll prolly regret posting this chapter right away... oh well. I wish I could just write faster.

anyway... I don't really have much to say. I'm supposed to be getting up in 3 hours to go to a funeral, but I really felt the need to post this. Does that make me an awful person? Of course I'm still going to the funeral, I just won't go to sleep and I'll drink a lot of tea before I do so I don't fall asleep.. oh my god, that would be terrible.

Anyway, yea. please review, it keeps me going and I really need it.


	8. I'm Baaaaaack!

It's been a long time coming...

**Forever Kiss is scheduled to return December 2011**

So be here!

Messages are always inspiring and appreciated!


	9. December is here!

….Are you ready?


	10. Merry Christmas

_"Kiss me..." she murmured softly, the meekness in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a consuming confidence, a smoldering lust that set her body aflame. She leaned closer to the Sorceress, pushing her back, cornering her with no chance for escape. Lucia felt the cold wall against her shoulders, and Sumire's warm breath on her lips. "You want it, don't you?" she whispered, their lips centimeters apart, "Take it."_

Sumire's eyes closed and she waited, inviting the Sorceress to succumb to the temptation. Lucia gasped, her head was swimming, her legs felt as if they'd collapse beneath her. She had no thoughts, no words, it took all of her concentration to not to push Sumire down on the bed and love her relentlessly. She clenched her hands behind her back to keep them from pulling Sumire's body against her own and exploring every inch of her with her lips. She was leaned back against the wall as far as possible, but her body begged for Sumire, ached to feel her, to touch her, to take her. As if she read the Sorceress's mind, Sumire moved into her, grinding against her as she pinned Lucia's wrist to the wall above her head with one hand, and let the other slide down below Lucia's waist. Slowly, her fingers wandered up Lucia's thigh, sliding under her skirt and down again. Lucia quivered, biting her lip to keep from whimpering as Sumire's breathe caressed her neck. Her lips dragged up Lucia's skin and found her ear, the Sorceress knew she was defeated. Sumire's teeth grazed it tauntingly, and then she let out the softest, lowest moan, "I want you..." Every nerve in Lucia's body exploded with electricity, with pleasure, with need... She needed Sumire, body and soul, and she couldn't wait any longer.

* * *

An excerpt from the upcoming chapters of Forever Kiss and a Christmas Present to my Loyal Readers!

The date is quickly approaching!

You like what you're reading? Comment and tell you if you like the direction this story is going in! or if you think it's just a little too much sex appeal, you can tell me that too. :]


End file.
